Mystic Visions
by Shiro Ryuu
Summary: [Oujiro x Wizard] First he saw him in his dreams, and he thought he was crazy. Then he saw him whenever he closed his eyes, and he knew he was crazy. Then he met other Deuses with the same ‘problem’, and he started to wonder...
1. Prologue

**AN: **This fic is hereby dedicated to emptyword. Her rabid support of my other Angelic Layer fics made me get my butt in gear and start working on this one again. Everyone give emptyword a big hand, grin. For what could be a more noble goal than spreading yaoi love in what could possibly be the most yaoi-free fandom I've ever seen...?

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

I couldn't remember the dreams, at first. At least, not properly. I would wake up in the mornings drenched in sweat and, well, _quite _embarrassed, and wonder why. Sometimes, if I strained, I could recall the sensation of a ghostly, cool touch that seemed distant yet _real_. Nothing more, though, at first.

But as I started having the dreams more and more often, I started getting better and better at holding them in my mind after waking. When I was finally able to figure out whom it was that could cause a person such as myself to have such, uh, nightmares, I was... duly horrified.

* * *

I have no idea when or how the conscious darkness behind my eyes became the darkness of my dream. I don't think I was even aware of the transition.

All I know is that all of the sudden he was there, standing where there had just been more nothing a moment ago. _Wizard_, magically human-sized - or was I doll-sized? I jumped, but felt surprisingly detached - 'This is just a dream,' I thought clearly.

As if I wasn't already befuddled enough, Wizard reached out to stroke my face in a contemplative fashion, and murmured, "Oujiro-sama is awake."

"Wha-"

Then he cocked his head to one side. "No... Not yet. But you are aware that you are here - and that _I_ am here." He laid his head on my chest; blue, fuzzy hair tickled my chin, and I felt warm. "Please try to remember me this time?"

I shrugged. 'A dream, a dream...' "I'll try."

"Good," he said, satisfied - and then he stretched up, and kissed me on the mouth.

I stumbled backwards, choking uncontrollably, and a sickening thought wormed its way into my head. _Please try to remember me this time... _"You... what-" I took a breath or two, and composed myself enough to speak coherently. "Please... tell me you're _not_ the one I've been dreaming about." So it was obvious - it was the best thing I could come up with at the moment.

Wizard simply arched an eyebrow in a bemused fashion, and _pouted_. In all my years as a Deus, I had _never_ thought of my Angel as the type to pout. "I think I liked you better when you weren't awake," he declared, as blunt as a child, but then he reached out to touch my cheek again with cool fingers...

I firmly took another step back as his eyes grew half-lidded and his face got too close. "Stop that! What do you think you're doing?"

"Being nice," he said innocently, but a spark in his eye hinted that he probably wasn't so naïve.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I think it'd be best if you would be 'nice' in a different way, understand?"

"But this is the best way to be nice," he protested, fiddling with one of my buttons. "The way people like the best."

I swatted his hands away, feeling vaguely irritable and rather like I was trying to talk to a four-year-old. "Not the way _I_ like best – not from you, anyway."

"Usually you do."

I faltered.

He blinked.

I gaped.

He smiled.

My eye twitched.

"I – Don't-" I paused, and scowled at him. Logically, this was pointless. I was letting my own doll - I was letting a _dream_ get under my skin. Hmph…

_Skin – warm and soft and brushing mine and – _

And suddenly I was very red indeed. I had _wanted _to remember these dreams? Twitch.

His smile widened, and he poked my cheek. "Cute," he declared.

I removed his finger from my personal space, and stared down at him. Obviously, I needed to explain things very carefully to him. Obviously we needed to have a long talk or two about the differences between boys and girls, and the proper behavior for each. Obviously, at least one and probably both of us needed to see a psychiatrist. Obviously, I-

"I'm going to wake up now," I told him, rather hopefully.

To my acute discomfort, the pout returned. "But you _can't_," he insisted, hugging me whether I liked it or not. "You just got here, and I'd be bored if you left again so soon!"

I struggled, and grimaced. For such a short person, he was certainly strong. Breath… failing… "Well, that's… too bad," I snapped, and his hold loosened enough for me to finally break free. My joy was substantially lessened by one look at his face.

Twitch.

I shifted awkwardly. God, he really was a child… one little thing… _excuses… _I shrugged it off. "Listen, I'm sorry, but you're just a dream, so…" _Wake up, wake up… ugh…_

Then he smiled again. "Oh, it's okay. I knew it would be hard for you to come to grips with at first. You'll have to get over that eventually, though." He beamed, and waved, and I finally noticed that the shadows were starting to eat at the edges of his figure. I hesitantly waved back, feeling mildly foolish, and he laughed, and –

- I sat bolt upright, choking on air. Even through my shock-induced coughing fit, I managed to get a glimpse of my surroundings, and was deeply relieved. _My_ room, wonderfully familiar; tangled up in _my_ sheets on _my_ bed. _My_ desk, across the room, covered in schoolbooks and notebooks and a plant and –

The cliché thing to do would've been to go over to him and perhaps brush a couple stray hairs out of his tiny face, while staring at him in a deeply thoughtful silence. So I didn't. It was terribly tempting, though.

I guess that was the moment that I first thought it in so many words. As I resolutely tried _not _to look at his apparently inanimate minute little body, it occurred to me that… Oujiro Mihara was officially, certifiably, slowly but surely _losing his mind._

**TBC**


	2. Misaki

**AN: **Me again, back with the first real chapter. It's pretty much awkward and fluffy and utterly devoid of plot; please forgive me, the next chapter will contain a double helping of plot, I _swear_. (grin) And also, for those of you who just can't get enough Angelic Layer yaoi-y goodness, I feel compelled to mention my brand-new, all-yaoi Angelic Layer C2, with a grand total of... five fics... two of which are written by me. T.T I tried, at least... Thanks for the reviews, peoples!

Motokonobaka: Glad to hear you're finding it interesting. And I haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet, bwuhaha... (obviously doesn't write enough stories with actual _plot_, and is therefore unduly excited...)

KS39: (smirk) Yes, Wizard is rather dominant in here... in a cutesy sort of way, aw, I love him... lol, few things make me happier than promises to check for updates XD

emptyword: (beam) As I already replied to this review, I'll just say - **_YAY_**, glad you like it so far :D And I hope this update was fast enough for ya ;)

* * *

**Chapter One: Misaki**

* * *

By mid-afternoon the next day, Oujiro had had another epiphany. It occurred to him that, in addition to the aforementioned insanity, he was also very, very tired.

The problem was that the wretched dream had woken him up at two in the morning, and he hadn't been able to get to sleep again. No, that wasn't it - he hadn't _wanted_ to get back to sleep again. Hadn't wanted to with a passion. So he'd tossed and turned for a bit, watched the clock for a while, and then had given up and gotten himself some coffee. Since he was _usually_ such a good boy - recent events excluded - he had used his extra time to catch up on his homework - and the problem with _that_ was that he now felt like he'd been in school for two days straight.

Of course, there was another problem, more subtle and sinister. Usually Oujiro Mihara didn't _have_ homework to catch up on. But then again, _usually_ Oujiro Mihara paid attention in class. Or at least, he usually _used_ to. Once upon a time. All in all, he was rather startled when school let out for the day.

Oujiro gathered up his things and drifted out into the crowded corridors. The overwhelming buzz of happy conversation around him harmonized nicely with the fuzzy droning in his head, and he complacently allowed himself to be pushed this way and that, only putting in just enough effort to make sure he was always heading in the general direction of the doors. He was somewhat bothered by a feeling that he was forgetting something, but it just wasn't coming to him, and he suspected that that had something to do with the blue hair and the mischievous eyes that kept appearing to him of their own accord...

"Oujiro-_kun_!"

Oujiro jumped, and spun demurely on his heel to cover up his momentary lack of poise. "Misaki-chan?" He stared incredulously at her as she hurried over to him; a slight shy blush colored her cheeks, but she was smiling broadly...

Oujiro let out a relieved sigh as he finally remembered, and not a moment too soon. Had he really just almost forgotten his own date...?

Misaki was beaming up at him. "I'm glad I caught you! It's so loud out here; I guess you didn't hear me the first time..."

"Gomen ni," he said sincerely, though secretly he was wondering about that. "How was your day?"

"Oh, it was great! Ito-san didn't give us any homework, because a few of us are entering the tournament and he knew we'd want to practice this weekend; he's so nice..."

As she went on, Oujiro took it all in and delighted in the way his mind cleared and his muscles relaxed just from being with her. Once they were outside the school grounds, he casually took her hand, and they walked together to the Piffle Princess store. The tournament was a week away tomorrow, after all - and more importantly, because Oujiro and Misaki were the best of the best, there was really no one better for them to practice with than each other.

After they had gotten checked in, as they sat down at a small layer, Misaki hesitantly spoke up. "Ano... could we warm up with dancing first, please?" She smiled brightly. "I think Hikaru likes it."

Oujiro couldn't help but arch an eyebrow in amusement. "Of course we can... She does, huh?"

Misaki instantly turned fuchsia. "Ah - ah -! I mean, sometimes I talk to her - I mean, of course she never talks back..." Her voice trailed off, and she laughed miserably. "I'm sorry. It's really childish."

Oujiro set his angel in the layer and switched it on as he answered, dropping his voice to secretive tones. "Actually... sometimes I talk to Wizard, too."

As Wizard came to life, and Oujiro found himself inadvertently making eye contact with him, he wondered if that had really been a good thing to say, when you got right down to it. Because it didn't mean what she thought it did, and so it was almost like lying to her... But it made her happy, so he decided to let it slide. The angels kept perfect time with the song and with each other, and Oujiro was filled with an oddly strong feeling of contentment, as he wondered stupidly if Wizard liked to dance too. He really, really, _really _needed to get that dream out of his head _right _now, he decided.

He was blessedly able to do just that, as they moved on to the next and rather more intensive part of their training. They played three rounds, of which Oujiro was able to win one by throwing Hikaru out of the layer. Afterwards, Miraki pouted at him.

"You're going easy on me. You are, aren't you? You could've won this one..."

"I'm not, promise," he said honestly. "I didn't sleep well last night."

"Oh, really?" she asked, concerned. "Maybe you ate something funny?"

"Probably," he agreed, and linked his fingers with hers again as they headed towards the store's exit. "Should I walk you home?" It was merely a matter of etiquette; he asked every time they practiced together, because her house was on the way to his anyway, and Misaki always graciously and blushingly agreed.

Sometimes people mistook Misaki for Oujiro's little sister, much to her chagrin and theirs as well, but as they walked down the street holding hands in the red-orange light of the setting sun, their affection couldn't have been more obvious. It would've made a perfect picture, Oujiro reflected, except he'd never really liked red. Such a garish color, he thought - funny, that... They walked in silence, but even so he thought they reached her house too soon.

"Well..." Misaki gave a small bow, which Oujiro found strangely embarrassing. "Thank you for practicing with me. Can you come again tomorrow?"

"Well... Yes, but can we do it sometime later, maybe after three? I have classes, and then my brother wanted to meet with me."

Misaki nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, is it for MYSTIC?"

"Mm-hmm. He wanted some more readings..." The already feeble conversation petered utterly away, and Oujiro felt his pulse speed up accordingly. Hmm... his mind was feeling fuzzy again, but he was pretty sure that he was leaning towards her... At the last moment, he tilted his head slightly to the side to kiss her on the cheek.

Oujiro stumbled a step back and stared at her, startled. Surely he had been meaning to kiss her properly, it wasn't like they hadn't before, and from the look on her face that was what she'd been expecting. And yet the urge that had compelled him not to had been as strong as a command shouted in his ear... "Well, good night," he said pleasantly, and fled.

* * *

"It's okay. I'd rather dance with you, though."

Oujiro sat bolt upright in bed, waking up from his half-asleep doze in a split second. "What? Who's there-?"

A hand gently grasped his shoulder, and he froze as he realized he was not, in fact, sitting on his bed. Whatever the surface underneath him was, it was as black as the rest of the nothingness around him, with no end in sight, neither soft nor hard, hot nor cold... Oujiro groaned.

Wizard crawled around to where he could see him, and made himself comfortable on his lap while Oujiro was still too disoriented to protest. "It's just me," he answered obediently. "You were wondering earlier if I liked to dance... It's okay, but I don't really like Hikaru's Deus, so I'd rather dance with you." He smiled, and tried to steal a kiss, but Oujiro hurried clapped a hand over his face, attempting to push him off.

"_Don't_," he said, with feeling. Wizard promptly made an obnoxiously loud kissing noise into the palm of his hand instead, and Oujiro jerked back. He scrambled backward to get out from under his Angel in a most undignified fashion and leapt to his feet to glower, breathing heavily, down at the blue-haired boy. "You-!" Wizard merely smirked sweetly up at him, and he crumpled. "You're impossible," he grumbled, turning away.

"Merely improbable," Wizard assured him, standing too. He rested a hand on Oujiro's shoulder as he stalked catlike around to face him.

"That's really corny, you know," Oujiro murmured, not making eye contact. Wizard made no reply, but placed his other hand on Oujiro's hip. Oujiro jumped at the gross invasion of his personal space - it _tickled_, damn it - and grasped the Angel's arm with the full intent of removing it... but he never got around to it, somehow, as Wizard swung them around with surprising grace. Before he knew it, the nymph of a boy was guiding him easily along to a song he couldn't hear, and Oujiro sighed in defeat. It was frankly a bit embarrassing, how easily he allowed Wizard to lead, but oh well. Might as well let him have his fun for now... it was only a dream, so why fight it? He let his head droop onto Wizard's shoulder, and they danced until the world began to fade away once again.

**TBC**


	3. MYSTIC

**AN: **(crows) At long last - the first sighting of actual plot! (preen, preen) Heh, can you tell I'm having fun? Also, Ichiro gets his introduction. We'll be seeing a fair amount of him in the next few chapters. Fortunately for me, I have discovered that he is fun to write, grin. I suppose most of you should be able to figure out basically what's going on at this point, but even if you do, I strongly recommend that you hold out for Wizard's point of view in a couple chapters ;) But anyhow, it's time again for review-thank-you's; I'm quite please with the response this is getting, considering what a non-yaoi fandom it's in...

Mirage10050: (grin) I'm glad you're liken' it. Thanks for reviewing both chapters!

emptyword: No worries about reviewing late, considering my late update, heh... Well, I believe this chapter should pretty well answer your question about MYSTIC ;) Not superfluous at all... I'm glad you like how I'm portraying Oujiro; it's fun almost-making-fun-of him like that ;) Aw, you know I love him. Incidentally, I love love _love _you, too, for catching that thing about red :D Exactly the effect I was going for. Sadly, I'm afraid there's not going to be any Wizard/Oujiro interaction at all this chapter - too much restraint, perhaps? T.T It's hard for me too, trust me...

Rose Kitsune.EXE: XD Well, lucky you (and us!), Misaki will be out of commission for the next few chapters at least. Again, I believe this chapter should answer your questions about MYSTIC, and incidentally I think that, if not by the end of this chapter, then in the next couple of chapters, you'll agree that it's even better than giving the Angels bodies (evil fangirl snigger)

* * *

**Chapter Two: MYSTIC**

* * *

On Saturday, Oujiro floated through his morning classes in a hazy state to which he was beginning to become accustomed. Wizard's weight in his book bag was strangely reassuring, but nevertheless he was disturbed to look down at his notebook after European History to discover a rough sketch of two figures dancing.

All in all, it was a relief to escape the mindless monotony after lunch and go visit his brother's lab across town. Oujiro hummed random snatches of different songs as he keyed his way through various security checks to the innermost rooms where all the confidential research was carried out, feeling more awake already. Of course, if everything was proceeding as planned, MYSTIC wouldn't be confidential for long...

MYSTIC. It stood for 'mobility, sensory, and tactical intelligence circuit', and it was his big brother's new favorite project. Even Oujiro didn't know all the details, but he had gotten the distinct impression that, if only it could be completed, it would border on artificial intelligence. Ichiro had already managed to make great progress on the responsiveness of the angels, but apparently he was no where near satisfied, and had been taking up scandalous amounts of Oujiro's time for months now.

By this token, he now knew the inner and most secret corridors of the lab building quite well, but today this talent wasn't really necessary - as he approached the main laboratory, he found that all he really had to do was follow the screams.

He keyed the final door open in a state of mild distress, and was met with a sight that, anywhere else, would have been very odd indeed. His brother was pinning a struggling Ogata to a control panel, holding his hands out of the way above his head and brandishing something long and black...

"Goodness - I thought you had a girlfriend, Ogata-san," Oujiro remarked mildly, finding a convenient table to deposit his book bag on.

The assistant squawked miserably, but Ichiro instantly released him and whirled to face the younger man with a jubilant cry of, "Oh, Oujiro, finally!" He grinned and held out the eel as if that explained everything, and then tossed it carelessly over his shoulder. "What took you so long?" he demanded.

"I'm right on time," Oujiro replied dryly. "Why the good mood - have you made progress?"

Ichiro nodded, rocking on his heels. "Could be, could be. I might need to keep you a little longer than planned to test it out properly..."

Oujiro frowned. "Well - as long as I can get to Piffle Princess by three. I promised Misaki-chan I'd practice with her."

His brother arched an eyebrow at him. "Oh - didn't you know? Misaki-chi has a fever today. Her aunt called to say that she might not be able to make her session tomorrow, which is why I might want extra time with you."

"But - I just saw her yesterday..." Oujiro shook his head incredulously. Ichiro merely shrugged, however.

"Oh well. It's not like I don't have enough people working on this," he said flippantly. Oujiro frowned at him, and his expression softened. "Maybe you should go see her afterwards, though."

Oujiro smiled a little at that, and chuckled. "Yeah... How many Deuses do you have in on this now, anyway? All the best ones, it sounds like. At this rate, it's hardly going to be a surprise when you unveil it during the tournament."

"If," Ichiro corrected darkly. "The thing is so complicated that _I _barely understand it, and there's only one week left..."

Oujiro scoffed. "Oh, you'll get it together, I'm sure." He fished Wizard out of his bag; the angel fit comfortably into the crook of his arm. "Can I get started?"

As Ogata began doing something with the controls, Ichiro escorted Oujiro to the door of the observation layer's room - and then, to the younger brother's surprise, followed him right in. "Please try not to use your special technique," Ichiro said by way of explanation, selecting an angel from a table and turning the layer on. "I'd like to see how this works under regular conditions first, if possible."

"Sure." Oujiro placed Wizard in the layer and pointedly ignored him as he donned his headset. Nothin' to see here, folks.

"Right," he heard Ichiro say, and looked up in time to see Ichiro's angel lunging at Wizard. He gawped - _thanks for the warning, brother! - _but Wizard managed to dodge in time. He frowned thoughtfully at the field; yes, that had definitely felt a bit strange, but he couldn't quite say how...

"The response is even faster, isn't it?" Ichiro smirked mysteriously.

"I should certainly hope so..." While Oujiro was still puzzling over that, his brother launched a rapid volley of punches, and Oujiro was so confused by the increasingly strange feeling he was getting that he was certain that at least half of them must be hitting their mark - but when he looked at the damage counter, he was stunned to see that it hadn't gone down a bit.

"What - nii-san, I think that thing is broken."

Ichiro smirked wider. "Oh, I doubt it. I think it's much more likely due to fact that I've never played with this angel before..."

"That shouldn't make _this _much of a difference, though." Ichiro just grinned, in a way that Oujiro found deeply frustrating - and his focus, he realized, really _was _terribly off today. Why, he couldn't _possibly _imagine... But, whether or not he was taking any damage, he was basically letting Ichiro walk him through this battle. _Taking the girl's part again...? _His eyes narrowed, and he dove forward for his first attack of the game - which Ichiro met with a counter-attack that dealt him his first _damage _of the game.

"Ah, ah - now you're forcing it!" Ichiro crowed. At Oujiro's hurt and confused expression, he leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially: "Tell me... how do you feel about Angelic Layer becoming a team sport?"

This naturally left Oujiro at his most distracted yet, and Ichiro's angel lunged forward - and was promptly blown out of the layer.

"Now, didn't I _just _ask you not to use that technique?" Ichiro scolded severely, but he was grinning.

"What - but - I _didn't-_" Oujiro stared at his brother for a long, long moment, utterly floored.

"_A.I._," he eventually choked. "You did it. You actually - you..."

Ichiro waved a hand airily. "Oh, there are still some glitches - just now, for instance, you didn't want to use the Shield, but Wizard went ahead and used it anyway because he knew it would win the game. Now that I've figured out how to let them think for themselves, the trick seems to be getting them to _stop_..."

Oujiro shook his head hopelessly, and suddenly glowered. "I thought you said you didn't understand it..."

"I don't," he agreed. "That doesn't mean I can't make it work."

"Ugh, _you_... you... You're going to get a Nobel for this, you know." Ichiro smirked vainly. Oujiro shook his head again, still feeling more than a bit dazed, and removed his headset. "Kami-sama... I'm sorry, but is this enough for today?" He couldn't help but smile. "I'd really like to go tell Misaki."

Ichiro rolled his eyes. "Y'know she doesn't have anything fatal, right? She'll still be there when we're done... Though I _suppose_ it did go exceptionally well, barring the bit at the end..." He grinned lecherously. "Give her my love?"

Oujiro scowled, jumping to his feet and snatching Wizard out of the layer. "You," he informed him, "are not a genius at all; you're just crazy. They say there's not much difference..." He kept smiling, though, even after he'd left the building.

* * *

"Shouko-san," Oujiro greeted, giving a formal bow. She smiled at him a little around her cigarette.

"Oujiro-kun," she returned. "If you're here to talk to Misaki, I'm afraid she'd sleeping. She's been sick all day-"

"A fever; I heard," Oujiro nodded. "How bad is it?"

Shouko looked at him oddly for a moment, then shrugged. "You must've heard that from Ichiro-san. I told him that for simplicity's sake. It's strange... She's been asleep most of the time. She's fine when she wakes up, but she can only stay that way for a few minutes... and she talks about her angel when she's sleeping." She spread her hands in a helpless gesture. "I'm gonna call a doctor... are you okay?"

Oujiro nodded hurriedly. "Just worried," he assured her, smiling weakly. "Please, can I see her? I won't wake her up."

Shouko shrugged. "I wish you could. C'mon..."

Misaki's bedroom light was turned off and the shades were drawn. Oujiro looked around with mild interest, and found it to be surprisingly neat and grown up, except for - he smiled - a decent-sized collection of stuffed animals. A chair was already pulled up to the head of the bed - Shouko had probably been watching over her - and he took a seat. She looked peaceful, he realized, and not at all feverish - in fact, she was smiling slightly. He couldn't help but wonder if he looked like that when he dreamed of Wizard... and he immediately blushed, as he considered just what that would imply.

'Misaki isn't that kind of girl! ...But then, I didn't think I was that kind of guy, either...' He raked a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up at odd angles. But it didn't matter, he tried telling himself firmly. What even made him think their problems were related in the first place? So she seemed to be dreaming about her angel - his dreams certainly didn't have _this _kind of effect on him. No, Misaki was sick, and he was just crazy. He cradled his forehead in his hands, looking the part of the concerned boyfriend very well, but in fact he was wishing fervently that his life would get a bit more normal again sometime soon.

**TBC**


	4. Hatoko

**AN: **Rather too much angst, I think, but more to the point... No Wizard for a second chapter in a row, sorry! Eh heh, what are you doing with that rotten tomato, please don't... eh heh... (nervous grin) But don't worry, the next chapter will have _twice _as much Wizard as usual to make up for it, including the first of several climactic scenes as far as their relationship is concerned... pfft, git yer mind outta da gutter, snicker, it's only rated T after all... okay, for the moment it is, anyway... And _anyway_, as far as this chapter is concerned, you get Hatoko-chan instead! (cowers before the rotten fruit) Heh, once again, thanks to all you wonderful reviewers:

Mirage 10050: Thanks bunches for the review! I'll do my best to keep going to the very end ;)

Motokonobaka: (grin) Yes, nothing makes me happy quite like corrupting - I mean, bringing yaoi, to such a yaoi starved-fandom :D I think I actually like Oujiro/Misaki better than the original canon... I was kind of wishing it would turn out that way when I read the manga, and Oujiro/Tamayo seemed so unexpected in any case, so the anime was a pleasant surprise for me... But I like yaoi way more than either, hee.

emptyword: I'm glad you liked what 'Ichiro really had up his sleeve' ;) I figured, even with the microscopic amount of AL yaoi, I'd already seen Wizard being given a human body done, and it seemed too easy in any case... I'm also glad you liked the meaning of the acronym; I was a little concerned that it was too much of a stretch, considering that I came up with the acronym first and then spent like an hour trying to find words that fit XD (beam) And if that tiny lil' tidbit last chapter was enough to keep you going, I guess this chapter should actually have a decent amount of Wizard/Oujiro-ness for you, hee... Actually, I liked your bit of philosophy very much, because it's a central theme here. Both Oujiro and society in general have a great deal of trouble controlling their creations, with arguably bad results at times... mwuha, foreshadowing in the review thank-you's, I'm so _sneaky_...!

* * *

**Chapter Three: Hatoko**

* * *

That night, much to his surprise, Oujiro was blissfully free of dreams. He slept in late, and then puttered uselessly around the house in his pajamas for a few hours, until he just couldn't take it any more. He lifted Wizard from his personal throne on his desk, and carried him to his in-home layer (courtesy of his elder brother, of course).

The small field buzzed softly and emitted a soothing, golden glow. Oujiro stared into Wizard's unblinking eyes for a long time, and wondered... Eventually, though he didn't know if he had consciously willed him closer or not, Wizard moved, stepping up to the rim of the layer.

As they touched, right at the very edge of the barrier, Oujiro noted how Wizard's tiny hand was just about the same size as the end of his finger. It was all just... too crazy...

Scowling, Oujiro switched the layer off with perhaps a somewhat excessive amount of force, and left the lifeless doll where it fell as he stalked out of the house.

* * *

Shouko looked a bit ill herself when she came to the door - Oujiro had a sneaking feeling that she hadn't slept as well as he had last night - but she managed to muster up a smile. "Hn. Misaki sure is popular. Kotaro, his little sister, and Tamayo are already in there... Go ahead."

When he entered the dimly lit room again, the atmosphere was decidedly grim. Tamayo sat in the chair, clasping Misaki's hand, and the others stood on either side of her. "Oujiro-kun," Hatoko murmured; the others just glanced up when he came in, and looked away again. He arched an eyebrow at them; it was as if they were already in mourning, for crying out loud...

Hatoko seemed to notice his expression, and left the bedside to come to him. "The doctor came last night," she explained softly. "He couldn't figure out what's wrong with her, but he thinks... she might slip into a coma. They're going to take her to a hospital if she doesn't wake up today."

The girl, Oujiro noted, spoke quite calmly - but the effect was ruined by the puffiness around her eyes... "She hasn't said anything today, then?" he asked, rather tensely.

"She hasn't been awake, if that's what you mean." Hatoko gazed at him solemnly. "She talks, though - like she's talking to Hikaru."

"How strange," Oujiro managed. The girl's eyes narrowed.

"Have-" Hatoko cast a suspicious glance back at the other two, and Oujiro jerked in mild surprise as she grabbed his hand. "Ano, I mean, may I speak to you in private?"

"Of course," he muttered; curiosity was itching in the back of his mind, and he wished the girl could be a bit more _expressive_, Lord, she was only in kindergarten, a face like a brick wall... He wasn't sure who was dragging whom into the next room.

As soon as they were behind closed doors, Hatoko gazed intently up at him, flushing slightly; whether it was from embarrassment or eagerness, he couldn't tell. "Has... ah... Has your angel ever talked to you?" she blurted.

He stared back for a long moment, and then grinned wryly. "Now, I'm curious, how were you going to get out of that if I'd said 'no'?"

She just glowered at him, and tugged the hem of his shirt urgently. "So - he has?" Oujiro nodded mutely. "So has mine," Hatoko whispered. "When - whenever I put her in the layer -" She gave a weak smile. "I thought I was going crazy... I hear her when I start daydreaming too, sometimes, when my guard is down... But, right before it all started, I was having dreams about her, though she never spoke to me then."

Oujiro let all his breath out in a heavy sigh, and raked a hand through his hair. He tugged on a long strand absentmindedly as he hypothesized: "Maybe it happens to different people with varying level of intensity... I've, ah, been having the dreams, too." He gave her a quizzical look, and opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it abruptly as he decided that he wasn't even going to _try_. "Have you talked to anyone else about this?" he asked instead.

She shook her head. "But I'm thinking... that maybe we should get together with some of the other members of the MYSTIC project," she added significantly.

"Oh," he breathed, as everything slotted into place. It had been right in front of him, really... He managed a shaky chuckle. "Oh, my... Well, I'll talk to my brother after school tomorrow, I guess..." He shrugged apologetically. "I'd call him right now if I could, but generally on Sundays he's, ah, pretty hard to track down, even Ogata normally can't find him... I apologize for his laziness..."

She smiled, sudden and bright. "Oh, that's okay. You should stay with Misaki-chan today, of course." For some reason, he felt a twinge of guilt at that, and he wondered why. If it showed on his face, Hatoko ignored it. "But do you think he'll believe us? _I _wouldn't believe it if I could come up with anything better. It's not as if he's been implanting circuitry in our brains; I just can't imagine how..."

"Well, it's nearly A.I.," Oujiro said thoughtfully. "It's nearly like being linked with another mind..." They stared at each other, both trying to take it all in; looking a bit overwhelmed, Hatoko eventually looked away first, and studied her shoes.

"If - if this happens to everyone... will it ruin your a-nii's project?"

Oujiro moaned; he hadn't even thought about _that_ yet. _Of course, because who **wouldn't **want to be repeatedly assaulted by a horny, life-sized version of their angel? Oh, **no**, who wouldn't want their **child **to be repeatedly assaulted - lawsuits - _He shuddered, and spread his hands helplessly. "I - I don't know what will happen. Of course, knowing nii-san, he might be just crazy enough to go ahead and - well - I just don't know."

She smiled sadly up at him. "I'm sorry..."

He shrugged again, valiantly. "Oh well. At least, if what's happing to Hikaru is the same as what happened to us, only stronger, then I think she should wake up okay sooner or later." He felt another pang of guilt at that, and this time he understood it perfectly - she _was_ only in kindergarten, after all, he shouldn't make promises like that to a kindergartener... It seemed to cheer her so greatly, though, that he couldn't bring himself to take it back. He allowed her to take his hand again as they went back to the others, because he rather felt like he'd like to hold someone's hand right now too, and they watched over Misaki in contemplative silence.

**TBC**


	5. Growing

**AN: **(cackle) Fluff alert! Yes, it's the long-awaited Fluff Chapter... not to say that things will be easier from here on out, sort of the reverse actually, but at least they'll get a small respite before things have to get nasty... cackle... I had loads of fun writing this chapter, can you tell? On top of the fluff, this first scene here was one of the first ideas I got when coming up with this fic, it's been waiting to be written for a long time... so if it's kind of cruddy, that's why, heh. Many thanks to all my super-duper reviewers!

:O: (grin) 'Wow' is a good response; when my fic makes someone go 'wow', that makes me happy...

Vaguely Downwards: And of course, it also makes me happy when an author that I really like reads one of my fics ;) I'm glad you think the plot is good; as I've been ranting, it's so rare for me to write something with much of a plot besides getting them in each other's pants, hee. Clamp were the ones who originally got me interested the idea of A.I. (Chobits!), and it's become a small obsession since then, so I guess this could be considered a tribute... Also glad that you liked the layer scene in the last chapter; I thought it might be too cliché, but it was another image that'd been in my head from the planning stage so I couldn't resist ;)

emptyword: Hee, yes, Oujiro's imagination is running wild. He's under a lot of stress right now XD Thanks for pointing out typos for me; it's amazing how, no matter how many times I reread something, there's always at least one, sigh... (grin) I actually read a Wizard/Oujiro once where Wizard had a mind of his own but was actually still in his normal body. Highly disturbing, it was, and yet I was still sad when they booted it ;) As for the philosophical point, it makes me think... Oujiro is basically a decent person, after all, and he doesn't react too violently to his 'loss of control' - because I think we can agree who wears the pants in that relationship :D - in fact, he's really only resisting at all because of Misaki - but others who aren't so pleasant will scrabble a lot more to maintain their authority... Hee, all shall become clear chapter-after-next...

Mirage10050: Lots of Wizard love in this chapter ;) Glad it's keeping you interested!

* * *

**Chapter Four: **Growing

* * *

The next morning, Oujiro was left with nothing more than a fleeting sense of vague emotions, as mercurial and impossible to grasp as smoke. He didn't think that Wizard had been involve, for of course he didn't know for certain if he had forgotten any of the dreams that he'd had about Wizard - if he'd forgotten them then it sort of followed - but the ones that he _could _remember lately had all been just as crystal-clear as any other part of his life...

So to summarize, he had now managed to enjoy two consecutive nights of uninterrupted sleep. So he should be happy. Right.

Perhaps it would help, he reflected pensively, if only this teacher wasn't so god-awfully _boring_. She had obviously been perfecting her technique for years; she spoke in a drawling monotone which could easily cause the inattentive listener to forget how a sentence had begun before it was finished, and she could not even be bothered to notice the several students who had already passed out, which at least would have given the rest of them something to snigger at.

And perhaps it would help if it wasn't such a beautiful, cloudless day out there; perhaps it would help if breeze coming in the open window wasn't so warm and enticing. Oujiro stared out said window with glazed eyes, and probably would have let his jaw go slack if he wasn't The Prince of the Layer. Class presidents... did not fall asleep in class, they did _not_...

_-jiro._

He twitched guiltily, and looked to the front of the class. The infamous teacher gave him an odd glance, but continued her spiel.

"If _t_ is a real number and (x, y) is a point on the unit circle corresponding to _t_, then sine _t-_"

Oujiro frowned. Then who... had said his name...?

_Oujiro!_

This time he managed to control his reaction, remaining perfectly still - or, perhaps, frozen... No one else, he noted, gave any sign of hearing anything. But infinitely worse... was the fact that, Kami-sama, he _knew_ that voice...

_Oujiro-sama? Don't be coy, I know you can hear me. Just concentrate..._

'I-I can...' he thought, and shuddered involuntarily at the resounding reply of _Ah-ha! _that greeted it.

There was a long moment of silence - except there wasn't, exactly, because he could still hear the teacher quite clearly. See her, too, and feel the soothing summer wind on his skin and his knuckles going white on the edge of the desk... 'Kami-sama, what's _happening_?' he panicked.

_Not a clue, _Wizard said cheerily. _But I guess it's the next step in... whatever's been happening... Isn't it exciting?_

In his despair, Oujiro scoffed out loud (the boy next to him glanced his way, but a quick smile easily sent him back to his window-gazing). 'Exciting? _Exciting? _I'm obviously losing my mind, and you think it's _exciting?-!_'

Wizard merely laughed at him - it was a pleasant sound like the tinkling of bells, and Oujiro probably would've found it soothing under, well, just about any other circumstance you'd care to mention. _You don't honestly still think I'm a figment of your imagination, do you? _he wondered. _How immature._

Oujiro's jaw clenched. 'Kami - no. You _are _a figment of my imagination, and I refuse to talk to you!' His hands clenched and unclenched under the desk, and he screwed his eyes shut in an effort to block this foreign presence _out_.

_You shouldn't do that, _Wizard remarked, still sounding entirely too amused. _You'll strain yourself..._

'Shut _up_!' A pained grimace crossed his face - but, well, it needed to be said, right? Wizard seemed to take it in stride in any case, 'hmph'ing in mild irritation.

_**Fine**, then. But don't say I didn't warn you._

It was at about this point that Oujiro's world faded to black.

* * *

At first glance, the concept of fainting seemed to be rather distressing - but upon further consideration, Oujiro had a feeling that he would rather have stayed unconscious than faced the alternative. The world around him remained generally black - but he was suddenly very aware of a blue blur hovering over his face, which focused gradually into Wizard's beaming face.

"Oujiro is finally awake!" That said, and while Oujiro was still too dazed to defend himself, the Angel leaned down and gave him a resounding kiss on the lips as if it was all a matter of course. "Now, I _warned _you this was going to happen, didn't I? You're probably going to miss the rest of your classes now-"

"Don't. Don't ever. Do that again." Oujiro shuddered violently, and staggered to his feet, groaning. "_Oh... _I - I just fainting in class, didn't I?"

"I _warned _you," Wizard reiterated in a sing-song voice, rocking back on his heels to peer up at his Deus. Oujiro narrowed his eyes, but after a moment he just shook his head wearily and turned away.

"What's going on?" he murmured. "I hope you have a better idea than I do."

"It wouldn't be too hard," Wizard suggested, though he at least had the decency to not sound too terribly snide about it. Oujiro glanced over his shoulder to indicate that he was listening, to find that the Angel had flopped onto his back; he gestured in an all-encompassing way at the seemingly endless night that surrounded them. "This is my world," he stated. "It's been like this since before I can remember, and I never thought about it - until you showed up." The way he grinned at that made Oujiro feel vaguely uncomfortable; thankfully he didn't elaborate. "This world has been expanding since then; you've been becoming clearer and clearer. Today I got a glimpse into your world for the first time... I've been getting close to communicating with the other Angels, too." He smirked at Oujiro's scandalized expression. "There are a lot of them out there, aren't there? It really _is _exciting, you know - everything is growing so fast!"

"W-Where do you think it will stop?" Oujiro whispered, though he wasn't sure if he really wanted to know.

Wizard sprang nimbly up and sauntered across the nothingness to his side, looking like the Cheshire cat. "Who knows?" he returned. "Maybe it won't stop until it's touched all the members of the MYSTIC project." Oujiro took a step back, wondering when he'd learned that name; Wizard closed the distance with two steps forward. "Maybe it won't stop until it's touched all the Angels in the world." Ghostly pale fingers slipped across his cheek, and blue eyes darkened. "Maybe we'll eventually share this body, as two halves of the same soul." While this statement was still echoing around in his head, Wizard pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, and for once he just couldn't seem to remember why he should protest.

While Wizard's hands lingered at his hips, toying with the hem of his shirt in a most infuriating fashion, the Angel abandoned his lips in favor of the general area of his jaw, ear, and neck. Flushed and not entirely all there at the moment, Oujiro found himself gasping: "How... how could this... reach the other angels? If they don't have the MYSTIC software..."

"Who knows?" Wizard repeated, breathing the words into the vicinity of his collar in a way that made his knees give out. After Oujiro had slid to the ground, Wizard made himself comfortable on his lap, and pulled back briefly to look at him with sparkling eyes. "But at the rate things are going, it seems like anything is possible..." He then silenced any reply Oujiro might have made by returning to the plundering of his mouth.

Oujiro flushed a bit more as he realized that this statement might be suggesting something about his present behavior. Just then, however, Wizard's cool fingers finally made it under his shirt to glide over his stomach, and his brain was filled with a white static that thoroughly eradicated _that _train of thought. A strange heat was coiling in his abdomen that made him squirm under the other's touches, and he was feeling a bit light-headed but it was alright, it was so right that he wondered why he'd ever-

_Misaki._

Could you, he wondered, cheat on someone with a dream? Technically?

...Oh, _bugger_.

Oujiro pushed feebly at Wizard's chest, but his limbs were treacherously limp just now, and he was beginning to wonder what he was going to do, when Wizard himself abruptly jerked back. The Angel pouted. "Hey, that's not fair! Why are you leaving already?"

Oujiro glanced down to find that he was, indeed, fading around the edges. Then he glanced up again, to take in Wizard's blushing countenance and swollen lips... Damn. "I'm sorry, I can't control it," he stammered, and scowled when he realized that that wasn't what he should be saying, not at all. Wizard just smiled his glowing smile.

"Oh, well - if you really can't help it, I guess..." He stole one last quick peck, and rested his forehead against Oujiro's. "I'm sorry I haven't seen you the past couple days, by the way. I should be able to talk to you anytime from now on."

Oujiro held on to Wizard's hand and stared into his eyes until the last possible moment, and didn't feel half as bothered by this parting assertion as he should have been.

**TBC**


	6. Artificial Intelligence

**AN:** (headdesk) I am SO SORRY! (sweatdrop) I meant to post this last Friday, seriously... I had it all written by then, too... but then, I... forgot. -.-xx Well, I had a bad weekend, and I work on Mondays and Tuesdays, so those days just kind of blurred by - I swear I didn't even think about it once until late Tuesday night. I'm so bad o.o; Plus Harry Potter has taken over my life lately, I haven't written anything in nearly a week... heh... Mucho thank-u's to those who reviewed; ya'll keep me writing _and_, in this case, remind me to post what I've written, heh heh.

Rose Kitsune.EXE: XD Your review made me grin. Oh, dear; _should_ I write a lemon? I've got at least some work done on all but the last couple chapters, so this would be the best time to have poll... of course, the rating would have to go up, what a _tragedy_ that'd be... In any case, glad to see you again, and glad you liked!

Mirage10050: Hee, my fics are squeal-worthy, yes indeed. Thanks!

Satsukiyami: Glad you're enjoying it. I guess I... didn't update all that fast, heh... but it wasn't _too_ slow either, right? (nervous grin) Thanks ;)

* * *

**Chapter Five: **Artificial Intelligence

* * *

When Oujiro woke up, he found that a great deal more time had passed in the real world than it had any right to have; school had let out for the day, and the nurse had called in a doctor from the local hospital. As he showed no signs of fatigue or fever, and because they hadn't been able to find a single thing wrong with him in the first place (other than the fact that he wouldn't wake up, of course), they grumbled about it a bit but eventually allowed him to go home.

By this point he was beginning to suspect that Wizard had been a little overly optimistic in his last prediction. Every once in a while he would suddenly hear a word or two, as if picking up on a conversation in another room, which was really quite disconcerting seeing as he lived alone. That was about it, however, unless you counted a vague sense of frustration that he wasn't sure was entirely his. He slept fitfully, because the voice in his mind kept waking him up, and wasn't able to have any dreams at all.

When he finally did get up the next morning, tripping over the sheets that had gotten tangled around his legs to get to his alarm clock, it was to a splitting headache. He stared muzzily at the clock in his hands for a few moments after he had switched the alarm off, swaying somewhat, and to his relief the pain began to fade away...

_Oujiro-sama?_

He jumped, and dropped the clock into the pile of sheets around his feet. 'W-Wizard?' he mentally whimpered.

_Ah - I think I've finally figured it out! _the voice crowed. _Sorry about the problems earlier - and the headache - I just stumbled on it by chance yesterday, but now I actually understand how it works..._

'Oh,' Oujiro managed. Oh, _crap_, he added to himself, as he sunk into the blankets. There was, he'd just discovered, a subtle difference - evident only to the true connoisseur - between mere sleepiness, which was all he'd been feeling just a moment ago, and pure _exhaustion_... 'Oh, well, that's really...' He gave up, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

_Wow, you seem really tired. Are you like this every morning? Maybe you should drink some coffee..._

Oujiro shot Wizard's body, propped up against a math textbook and staring innocently into middle distance, a murderous glare. 'Listen... if it's really going to be this easy for us to communicate, I think we're going to have to lay down some ground rules. I think it'd probably be best if you didn't talk to me at school. I can't very well pay attention to the sensei with you talking in my other ear. And definitely don't talk to me when I'm talking to someone else, I don't even want to think about... Also, I'm not really a big morning person, so I'd really like if you just... _didn't _talk to me in the mornings.'

_So pretty much... don't talk to you, ever, _Wizard summed up dryly.

'That's about right, yeah,' Oujiro replied, wondering with sleeplessness-induced nastiness whether it was possible to actually get the Angel genuinely upset.

He got the distinct impression that Wizard was pouting again, but all he said was, _You really do need some coffee, don't you...? _Oujiro groaned softly, and hid his head in his hands.

'Oh, and, yesterday... didn't happen.'

To his acute irritation, Wizard simply giggled, as his presence faded far into the back of Oujiro's mind.

* * *

_Is that all you eat for lunch? You need to eat more._

Oujiro had gone through many emotions over the course of the day. First had come anger - 'How many times do I have to tell you, _not when I'm at school!' _- and then there had denial - 'This isn't really happening, you know. I'll talk to the counselor after class, she'll hook me up with a good psychiatrist who can get me a prescription-' - and then childishness - 'I can't _heeeeaaaar _you...' He had currently settled on dejected defeat.

'It's all I need,' he mumbled. 'Besides, I can't get fat - _don't _laugh - it's Angelic Layer's popularity I'm worried about, not mine.'

This time, he got the feeling that Wizard was smirking at him. _You know, in a way, that almost makes you sound **more **vain. But in any case, I don't think you'll have to worry anymore about the game falling out of fashion... not after the next couple of days..._

Oujiro considered wondering about that for a moment or two - but then he just sighed, and gracefully shoveled a small bite of rice into his mouth. The façade was ruined a moment later, sadly, as he dropped his chopsticks with a clatter when his phone went off.

He muttered darkly to himself as he fished it out of his pocket, but his expression brightened when he saw who was calling. His fingers fumbled hastily to hit the correct button. "M-Misaki-chan?"

She giggled. "Surprised?" she teased. "How are you?"

"Fine," he lied smoothly. "But you - you're awake? You're okay?"

Wizard made a very mature gagging noise.

"Yup, I'm all better," she said cheerfully. "Auntie Shouko has made me stay in bed all day anyway, but I managed to sneak out and get the phone when she went to make lunch... I don't feel sick at all, honestly."

"I believe you," Oujiro said, a bit quietly. "Do you - remember what you dreamed?"

"Oh, well," Misaki said vaguely. "Auntie told me that I talked about Hikaru in my sleep, so I guess..."

"So you really don't remember _anything_?" Oujiro cajoled, arching an eyebrow quizzically.

"Ah... um... It's silly..."

"I won't laugh," he promised.

"Well..." Oujiro heard her take a deep breath, and then she said all in a rush: "I dreamed that Hikaru talked to me, yes. We talked for a very long time, about all kinds of things... we became such good friends, it was very nice... ah..."

"Go on," he urged. "I'm not laughing yet, am I?"

"Well... S-she said that she was 'waking up'. Then she said that it was time for me to wake up too, and not to worry, because she'd still be able to talk to me..." She laughed lightly. "Silly, huh?"

"Not at all," Oujiro said, trying to sound merely soothing and not like his heart was about jump out of his throat from beating so hard. "Okay - I have to go now, but I promise I'll see you tomorrow. I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Thank you," Misaki said politely. "Okay... I love you."

"Love you too," Oujiro murmured, smiling slightly.

Wizard, who had dimmed after giving his initial opinion, now spoke disdainfully: _You're not actually surprised, are you? _Oujiro chose not to respond, concentrating instead on willing his head not to split at the seams. _What are you going to do?_

The Prince eyed his cell phone thoughtfully for a moment, but then he glanced up at the crowded cafeteria. 'No... the break is almost over anyway, it'd be better to wait until after school... but I think it's about time I had a talk with my brother.'

* * *

Between Wizard's incessant prattle and his growing anxiety, Oujiro swore he didn't learn a single thing that afternoon. He was, he noted with some concern, developing a nervous twitch. He started dialing his brother's number when he was still in the elevator of his apartment building. "Moshi moshi?" came Ogata's familiar voice, just as Oujiro was unlocking his door.

He sighed in relief, but he still sounded more than a little tense when he said: "My brother. Now."

"Er... just a moment..."

Oujiro closed the door again behind him, and slid to the floor with his back against it. _Oujiro-kun, _Wizard muttered, and to his surprise, the Angel actually sounded concerned. Before he had a chance to reply, however, there was what sounded suspiciously like an explosion on the other end of the line, and then Ichiro's voice rang out in his ear.

"My dearest little brother!" he said cheerfully, and then abruptly switched to a suspicious tone: "You want something, don't you? I know you... you'd never call me unless you wanted something..."

Oujiro couldn't help but smile a little at that. "Well... even if I just wanted to say 'hello', I'd still technically _want _something, wouldn't I...?"

"Insolence!" Ichiro cried. "If you don't tell me what you want already, I'll send you a virus; I'm very busy."

Oujiro, who was tempted to ask how he'd find time to send him said virus if he was so occupied, rolled his eyes. "Actually, I confess, I _do _need a favor." Ichiro groaned. "I... need you to call a meeting of all the Deuses working on MYSTIC. No later than tomorrow."

"Madness!" Ichiro shouted; somewhere in the background, Oujiro thought he heard Ogata yelp in terror. "What makes you think I have time for that? What makes you think _they _have time for that?"

"Tell them it's an emergency," Oujiro said grimly. "Nii-sama, your project... I have reason to believe - that is -" He broke off, sighed hopelessly, and shrugged. "It's out of control," he finally said, rather inadequately.

On his end of the line, Ichiro raised both eyebrows. "Is that so?" Oujiro wrinkled his nose; his brother sounded more intrigued than disturbed...

"Yes," he said wearily. "It started out as just dreams, but now it's happening even when I'm awake... all day today... Wizard had been talking to me. _Stop _laughing, it's been happening to Hatoko as well! I know that Misaki has at least had the dreams, maybe more, too."

"Mass hallucination...?" Ichiro wondered. Oujiro twitched; the scientist, seeming to sense the aura of doom even through the phone line, laughed in a placating manner. "You're certain, then? _Fascinating_. Huh... This - this is wonderful! I'll call them all right away-"

"This is _not _wonderful!" Oujiro yelled, and then moaned as he realized that his brother had already hung up on him. "Crazy... absolutely bleeding insane," he grumbled, shaking the phone in frustration.

_Oujiro-kun? _Wizard whispered, so softly that he almost didn't catch it.

'Yes...?'

_I'm... I'm sorry this is so upsetting for you, _he confessed, and he sounded so ashamed that Oujiro's mouth fell slightly open, Prince of the Layer or not. _I tried to help you get used to it today... but I guess I just talk too much. I know you already have a lot of friends, but you... you - won't let him turn MYSTIC off, will you?_

Oujiro's eyes widened - _This is **not **wonderful! _- and he finally looked properly shamefaced himself. 'Oh, I'm... I would never let him do that,' he finished lamely. 'Of course not. No... we'll work something out. I - promise.'

The sudden wave of happiness nailed him to the floor. _Thank you, Oujiro-kun!_

Oujiro leaned his head back against the door and stared at the ceiling for a long time after that, and wondered. He wondered what on earth they were going to do tomorrow. He wondered when Wizard had started calling Oujiro-_kun_. He wondered what all these unsettling new feelings were, and what horrible act he'd committed in a past life to deserve them...

**TBC**


	7. Deuses

**AN: **Eep, don't hate me? Heh. I see some really spastic reviews in my future... such a cruel ending... but I _promise _you that I won't let the story get too angsty, as I am sometimes wont to do. I'm too comfortable with the feel of this story to change it now, it would defeat the purpose ;) On another note, hey, lookit me! I have obviously reached new heights of excellence - I have written something worthy of an honest-to-gosh flame! According to 0i, my story is "stupid and boring", but I'm thinking that the real problem is just that it's yaoi, as I happened to notice that Rose Kitsune.EXE's fic "Silk", also Wizard/Oujiro, received an almost identical review on the exact same day... Incidentally, everybody should go read that fic, as it's positively lovely :) Now on to thank the _real_ reviewers:

Satsukiyami: Glad you liked the chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one as well :)

Vaguely Downwards:D How many times have I told you that I love you? Well, have another. (rolls up sleeves) First question: Are Wizard and Oujiro the only Angel/Deus couple? Well, out of the eight members of MYSTIC - who, incidentally, all get introduced this chapter - they probably are, kind of leaving that up in the air I suppose. But later... (whistles innocently) Oh, I'm _so_ secretive, heh. Wait'll the next chapter... Second question: Will there be Misaki-Wizard conflict:D But of course! You'll get to see more than enough of that this chapter, I think, but it'll be a major theme for the rest of the fic... Third question: Is Ichiro having dreams/conversations/"hallucinations" with his own Angel(s), or is he not part of MYSTIC? Heh, that one made me go 'oops' a little; I must admit, I should've clarified that. I guess at this point it's pretty obvious that Ichiro isn't conversing with his Angel, as he didn't know anything about it when Oujiro told him and, as this chapter shows, all the other MYSTIC Deuses have already had some kind of contact, but actually, no, he's not part of MYSTIC. I figured that, since he doesn't seem to have any one Angel that he has a deep connection with (as far as I can remember -.-), and plus he's just mean enough to use the others as 'guinea pigs' anyway... Fifth question: Will Ichiro continue thinking that Oujiro is suffering hallucinations? Actually, I tried to imply that Ichiro had bought Oujiro's story by the end of their conversation, he's crazy enough to buy it that fast and plus they're brothers, but maybe that's something else that could use some clarifying? Do you think I should change it a bit? Bonus question: What's the dif between "-kun" and "-sama"? Ah, Japanese honorifics, I love them. "-Sama" is used to address a superior ('lord', 'master', 'boss', possibly 'sir'), whereas "-kun" is a much more familiar term for an equal and possibly a friend, normally a boy. One might even address one's lover with a "-kun" ;) _And_, fhew, now that this review reply is about twice as long as my author's note, I think I'll shut up...

* * *

**Chapter Six: **Deuses

* * *

_Is it a human?_

'No.'

_Plant?_

'No.'

_Not something alive, then?_

'No.'

_Wait... so, it **is **alive?_

'Yes. I'm counting that as a question.'

"Can't we just start without her?" Sai Jounouchi groused.

"Relax, Sai-kun," Kaede Saitou said soothingly. "For all we know, she might be coming down the hall right now."

"Actually, she's not," Ogata said helpfully, and gestured at his computer screen. "There are cameras... in the..." He smiled glassily, and abruptly decided that it would be safer stay in the background, after all.

Sai turned her gaze from Ogata to Ichiro, icy expression not wavering in the slightest. "You could at least tell us why we're here," she suggested; behind her, Arisu and Madoka Fujisaki nodded their agreement.

"It's very shocking," the scientist said enigmatically. "It'd be better to tell you all at once, I think."

Oujiro sighed heavily, fidgeting with a cord. 'You're right, it _is _a tiger. How do you keep doing that? Are you cheating?'

Sai smirked. "Oujiro seems to disagree." He blinked owlishly at her.

_Me, cheat?_

"Er... yes?" he hazarded, and then frowned. Wait... Ichiro gave him an odd look, but luckily they were all distracted before he could say anything as the door was flung dramatically open.

"Sorry I'm late!" Ringo Seto cried, bowing repeatedly and causing her long blonde hair to fly every-which way. "There were reporters... and then I tried to take a detour... but I'm here!"

"So we noticed," Ichiro agreed, smiling indulgently. Misaki waved shyly, and Hatoko smiled too.

"So can we start?" Sai asked again, sounding vaguely bored. Ichiro nodded, unruffled.

"Yes, okay... Well, for Jounouchi-san's sake, we might as well cut to the chase." Oujiro grimaced, wondering if that was really the best way to go, but his brother was already leaning forward across his desk. He smiled pleasantly. "So... how many of you have talked with your Angels? In your dreams or otherwise."

Oujiro rolled his eyes - blunt as possible, go figure, it had left the Fujisaki sisters gaping - but Hatoko met his eyes and nodded. "I have," he said.

"Me too," she agreed. Misaki stared at them in shock, but to their surprise, Ringo was the next to speak up.

"Really... y-you too?"

"And me," Misaki admitted, ducking her head. "Not just when I was sick, either. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Hatoko - Oujiro..." Hatoko just laughed.

"We didn't tell you either," she pointed out.

Sai leaned back in her chair, arms folded. "You're kidding me. You're all crazy..." At their apprehensive stares, however, she sighed and looked away. "Okay - _we're _all crazy," she confessed grudgingly. At this, the Fujisaki sisters traded glances, and nodded mutely.

"Blanche has talked to me as well," Kaede said serenely. She gave Misaki a thoughtful look. "When it first started, I was in bed for several days as well..."

Hatoko nodded. "It didn't happen to everyone that way. Oujiro thinks it affected different people in different ways."

"_Fascinating,_" Ichiro commented, sounding like he was in heaven. At Oujiro's withering look, however, he cleared his throat and sat back again. "Well, it's good to know we're all on the same page-"

"Good to know?" Arisu spoke up, sounding somewhat breathless. "_Good to know?_ Y-you mean to tell us that, because of MYSTIC, somehow-" Madoka lay a hand on her arm, looking concerned, but Arisu was staring at Ichiro with wide, unblinking eyes and didn't appear to notice.

He shrugged apologetically. "This development was entirely unforeseen, I assure you," he said smoothly. "It appears to be due to repeatedly exposing your minds to the artificial intelligence software - it seems to have created some sort of link - however, judging from some initial tests I've preformed with Oujiro's help, it appears that this link can be broken easily enough, if need be, once the Angel's chip is turned off. Of course, that's what we're here to discuss-"

Arisu had taken a few deep breaths, and was now able to interrupt him again. "Wait - what do you mean, 'discuss'? I don't think there's anything to _discuss_. Artificial or not, I don't want another - another 'mind' in my head." She looked around at the other Deuses, and raised an eyebrow. "I mean, who would?"

Misaki looked utterly lost. "You mean you... don't get along with Alice?" Arisu gawped.

"_Excuse _me? You mean it honestly doesn't bother you to have someone else in your mind, all the time, watching everything you do... giving their opinion... knowing what you're thinking...?" She shuddered at the thought.

Misaki looked down, but Oujiro hummed thoughtfully. "Well, really, now... has Alice actually told you she's read your private thoughts, or giving you any positive sign that she has - or are you just stating the possibility?" Arisu narrowed her eyes at him; he beamed innocently. "Because I don't think she would do that; I don't think any of our Angels would do that. And the rest of it isn't so bad - I'd say it sounds rather familiar, actually, as one younger sibling to another... Think about it. They were made for us... made _by _us... really, I think they just want to make us happy."

_Oh, wow, I had no idea you... do you feel okay?_

'Shut _up_.'

Arisu, however, was not to be deterred. She jumped to her feet, scowling all the more. "You're crazy," she informed him. "They aren't people, or, or even pets or something like that! They're programs, and they're _malfunctioning_. I mean, it started out as just weird dreams ever once in a while, but now I'm hearing her all the time. How far do _you_ think it'll go? What if they're able to influence our actions, make us do what _they_ want? What if they wind up so much stronger than us that we become trapped in our own bodies, or - Kami-sama, I don't know -!"

"_Please, _Arisu-san," Kaede interrupted, looking disturbed. "Just... you mean... You're really not happy, being closer to Alice?"

"Yes, please calm down," Ichiro said sternly, glasses glinting. "You're practically hysterical, and you know, we need to reach a unanimous decision..."

Arisu's mouth was narrowed to a pale line, and she banged a small fist on the table angrily. "No! I don't care what the rest of you, but I'm through with this. I want Alice's software turned off _immediately_!"

The pained wince that crossed her face just before she stormed out of the room was not lost on Oujiro, and he thought that it seemed rather out of keeping with her words...

_Oh... Poor, poor Alice..._ Wizard murmured. In the dense silence that followed, Ichiro bowed his head.

Madoka blew a bang out of her face and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "I apologize for that," she said, wincing as well. "Arisu can be... very emotional..." Misaki chuckled at that, though she still looked more than a little shell-shocked. Madoka contemplated the middle distance. "I don't know exactly why she's rejecting the whole thing so violently... but I can't imagine that Alice wouldn't care for her very much..." She shrugged, and stood. "Nevertheless, I guess you'd better turn it off. She seems to be very determined. I'll... stick it out with Mao a bit longer, I think..." She smiled helplessly. "I'd better go."

After another moment, Ichiro stretched and raked a hand through his hair. "_Wow_. Anybody else got anything they want to get out of their systems?" The Deuses glanced at each other.

"Well, _I'm _okay with it, I guess," Sai put in, "but you know you're not going to be able to market this, right? No way." Oujiro nodded grimly. Ichiro pouted.

"_Aw..._ I could just say I didn't know..." Ogata, hovering at his elbow, sighed; Sai just rolled her eyes. "Oh, _fine_. Though you have to admit, if everyone reacted like _that_, it could be fun to watch... okay, okay, or they could lynch me, fine, I know!" He sighed dramatically. "I guess I won't be unveiling MYSTIC at the tournament after all. My Nobel..." He cleared his throat. "Ah, but, with your cooperation, I'd like to keep working on it. Now, I know that may sound like a lot, but - though it _would _be interesting to see what other advances they'd make if left to their own devices - I could switch off your Angels' implants as well, between sessions."

Oujiro opened his mouth to speak, and his hand flew to his temple.

'Wizard?'

_...Yes?_

Oujiro's mouth twisted into a wry smile. It had come from way back in the back of his head, true, but to scream so loudly - had he thought he wouldn't hear...?

'You'd just _better _find a way to talk to those other Angels sometime soon, so they can baby-sit you,' he warned, then said aloud: "Actually, I think I'd like to keep mine on... at least for now." He smiled sweetly in response to Ichiro's inquisitive look.

"Ah - me too!" Misaki said. Hatoko nodded happily.

"And me," Ringo and Kaede both said, and grinned at each other.

"...Oh, why not?" Sai agreed wearily. Ichiro graced them all with an approving smirk.

"Well, _that's_ settled... Actually, I guess that's about everything for now." He nodded to himself, and then suddenly glared at them all. "Well? What are you all doing still hanging around? Shoo, shoo! Lots of work to do!" Ringo scampered out with a squeak, followed quickly by Kaede, Sai, and Hatoko; Oujiro and Misaki, who were somewhat more used to Ichiro's eccentricities, followed at a slightly more sedate pace. Glancing over his shoulder, Oujiro saw that his brother had not even bothered to get up, but had pulled a small notebook out of his pocket and was already scribbling furiously.

As they walked through the halls, Misaki grasped his hand. "I feel kind of bad for Alice," she confessed quietly, and gave him a worried look. "That's not too strange, is it? It's true, what she said; they _are _artificial intelligences..."

"I feel sorry for her too," he assured her. "Though it is... very different..."

"Yes, it's different," she agreed, and smiled brightly, "but exciting! I would never want Hikaru's chip turned off; she's already such a good friend, even if she's not human in the same way we are."

"Yes, I... would never want Wizard turned off, either..."

_Then why do you feel so bad? _Wizard whispered. _Oujiro-kun?_

They came to the doors, and Oujiro was distantly aware of Misaki saying, "-well, Auntie's house is that way-" The sun was beginning to set, he noted, and the light lit her hair on fire... such a painfully bright color... He shut his eyes to it, and leaned down and kissed her.

When they parted her cheeks were tinged with pink, and she was smiling brilliantly. Oujiro couldn't help but smile too; he had to admit that she was adorable. "Well... I'd better get going," she said, and squeezed his hand before letting it go. She waved as she walked away, and he waved back, and Wizard was utterly silent for the rest of the night.

* * *

"Oujiro."

No honorific. Oujiro was proud of himself for noticing that even while he was still experiencing the now-familiar vertigo that accompanied these dreams. No 'kun', no 'sama', no nothing - no feelings at all...

Wizard seemed somehow especially small and child-like, Oujiro thought, with his eyes pleading with him like that, but his voice was frostbitten. "That girl - Misaki... she's the one you love the most, right?"

"I-" Oujiro stopped there, however, unsure of exactly what he was protesting. Perhaps it was possible to upset the Angel, after all... "I-I like you a lot, you know," he stammered.

"But not the _most_," Wizard brushed it off. Then he added, in a much smaller voice: "Are you going to marry her?"

Oujiro choked. "W-_Wha_-"

"Because that's what people do when they love each other the most, right?"

_Marry._ Where _did _he get this stuff? Funny - maybe it was because his first love had been so hopeless, and because now so many people who didn't even know him fawned hopelessly over him, but he'd never really thought much about that sort of thing. But more importantly - marry _Misaki_? He grimaced. "I t-think she's a bit young to be thinking about that sort of thing-"

Wizard brightened a little. "You mean you don't think she loves you the most?"

Aspirin... aspirin would be nice...

Oujiro boggled at him as the Angel took a tentative first step closer. "Now - listen to me - I never said that - you don't _understand_ - mmph -"

Wizard broke the forceful kiss to beam at him. "That must be sad. But it's okay, because _I _love you the most. More than anything."

As the shorter boy pulled him close for another kiss, Oujiro felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, and he wondered why. At no time during this whole ordeal had he yet felt like crying - not when he'd thought he was losing his mind, not when he'd thought Misaki was ill, not when Arisu had demanded that Alice be permanently shut down...

He supposed it had something to do with the fact that... to not be loved the most - _must be sad..._

Oujiro suddenly gave Wizard a violent push; the Angel's eyes were bigger than he'd ever seen them. His hands trembled in the face of those big blue eyes. "No," he said coolly. "Misaki _does _love me - and when I think of how much it would hurt her if she knew-"

"Knew?" Wizard said suspiciously, almost tauntingly. "What is there to know, then?"

Oujiro stared at him for a long, long time. Then he said, softly: "That I was confused."

After that, Oujiro got out of bed even though it was only two in the morning, and made coffee. He scowled into his steaming mug; it didn't help that the cup was blue, but even the drink reminded him, now...

But he had done the right thing, right? He had done the right thing, for Misaki's sake. So what if the tournament was just two days away? So what if he felt like the world's biggest jerk? There was no reason to feel that way, anyway, when he had done the right thing... surely...

**TBC**


	8. Integration

**AN: **(tears of gratitude) Well, I believe that the number of reviews for chapter five was an all-time low, _plus_ I got a flame - but apparently you glorious reader saw my plight, for you rallied admirably last chapter (or else it was just especially well-written, _preen_). Either way, I thank ya'll from the bottom of my black little heart, because it really got me moving on chapter eight... Unfortunately, _this_ is chapter seven, which is rather more boring and a bit short It's necessary to the plot, sorry. But in the _next_ chapter I promise you drama, action, moments of powerful emotion and deep philosophy, _and_ Oujiro venting his frustration by throwing pencils:D Okie-dokie, now to reply to the above-mentioned much-appreciated reviews:

Mirage10050: A work of art? (blushie) You _do_ know you rock, right?

Rose Kitsune.EXE: XD Oh, you make me laugh. Hmm, cameras, with Ichiro we can only guess... Perhaps there are some that Ogato doesn't know about, snigger... And originally I just made Arisu so pissy because it's Arisu, I figured she'd be like that about something out of her control - but it really wouldn't be much of a far stretch to read some shojo-ai implications in it, considering the insinuation in your average Clamp manga, lol... Sigh, it's actually a little frustrating writing Oujiro so dense. I worry that I might be making him _too_ dense, hee... But he'll figure some things out eventually, I'm sure ;)

Motokonobaka: Hee, here's your update. Unfortunately there's no Oujiro/Wizard dialogue this chapter, but there'll be a modest amount in the next chapter, promise ;)

ChobitsKtty: Yay, new reader! XD Yes, this story is _the_ cool beans, isn't it? (dies) Iblameitonthecoffee...

Satsukiyami: (beam) It always makes me happy to see people rooting for the characters... 'cus I'm vain like that, have you noticed...? Luckily, this chapter we'll find out that Alice isn't as badly off as we thought ;)

* * *

**Chapter Seven:** Integration

* * *

After his argument with Wizard, Oujiro managed to stay awake for a couple of hours, but eventually passed out around four A.M. At first he had been leery of falling asleep again for fear of having another confrontation with the Angel, but eventually he realized something - for the full two hours he'd been up, Wizard's voice had been utterly absent from his mind. He got the feeling that his companion was presently just about as keen on avoiding him as vice versa.

When his alarm clock went off two hours later, it took up all of his self control to not just toss a pillow at it, and he was sorely tempted to call in sick. In the end, however, he forced himself through the process of showering and dressing, and ate his breakfast with the silence humming softly in his ears.

Once at school, he had what was quite possibly his most productive day so far that week. In spite of being somewhat sleepy, he diligently copied down notes, answered questions, and breezed through a surprise math quiz with flying colors. He'd been the picture of a model student all day, and so there was really no reason for him to sound so glum when he answered his phone at lunch time.

"Misaki-chan?" he fairly sighed.

"So it's true!" He blinked, at a loss. "Ano... that is, H-Hikaru's been talking to me," she said hurriedly, and he could tell that it still felt awkward to her. Not that he was used to it, of course, by no means... "She told me, uh, that you and Wizard had had a fight."

He choked, narrowly avoiding spraying rice. "She told you w-_wha_-?"

"So it _is _true, then?" she asked anxiously. "Oh! Didn't you know - they're talking to each other now."

...He could _hear _that innocent little smile, damn it, as if this was somehow the most wonderful news. "T-They are, huh?" he managed, barely.

"Oh, yes! It started this morning. Ringo-san and I were having a conversation through Hiraku and Lanka-chan, though Hikaru eventually got fed up with it, heh... But I think they're all really excited. Even Wizard eventually cheered up, Hikaru said..." Her voice took on a thoughtful, concerned tone. "Was your argument really that bad, that he hasn't told you about it yet?"

He looked down, pushing rice across his tray - _I have **nothing **to be ashamed of! I didn't ask for this... _"Well, it wasn't very good," he admitted. "But I'm sure we'll work things out..." ..._somehow_.

"I hope so," she said, though she sounded as if his vague answer hadn't consoled her very well. For her sake, he forced a light laugh.

"Don't worry about us. We've _got_ to work this out - if we're still giving each other the silent treatment by Saturday, you and the other Deuses with MYSTIC will trounce us, don't you think?" Somehow he felt that he probably should've been more concerned about that, but really it sounded trivial just now.

On her end of the line, Misaki winced. "I guess you didn't hear about this, either... Arisu-san - she told the judges about MYSTIC. She didn't tell them any of the details, at least, but Ichiro-san was ordered to turn all the chips off for the tournament. They said it would've been too much of an advantage - and I know that, it was supposed to be available to everyone by now - but..."

Oujiro felt something like he'd just swallowed an ice-cube at that 'but'. "Turn - them off," he repeated dumbly.

"Yes," Misaki agreed, and he could picture her smile wavering like a mirage. "I was talking to Ichiro-san about it a few minutes ago. He's not sure exactly what kind of effect it will have - whether they'll just be cut off from us, or if they'll actually lose consciousness, or if they'll - restart - but the only way to find out is by trying, right?" she concluded with brittle brightness.

'_Restart'? 'Restart'?-! _"I suppose so," he said weakly, and then, because she had sounded so fragile just then, he added: "But whatever happens, at least Hikaru won't be going though it alone, now." That seemed to cheer her up somewhat, and they tried to stay off the subject for the rest of their conversation until it was time to go back to class.

_...not alone, now... they're talking to each other... he hasn't told you about it yet? ...not alone..._

Oujiro _was_ worried, he really was, about the fact that Wizard's A.I. chip would be turned off for a whole weekend, when the idea had obviously terrified him the last time it'd come up - but, well, if he didn't want to talk to him about it... he obviously had plenty of other people to talk to... It couldn't be _that_ frightening, if he wouldn't give up on this stupid argument long enough to tell him about it, right?

It was only after he'd gone through the motions to get himself through the rest of the day, and was lying in bed unable to sleep despite barely being able to keep his eyes opened, that he fully realized that the uncomfortable feeling of pressure deep inside him was a little thing called _jealousy_.

* * *

The next morning was much the same as the last one, except that he was feeling a bit more rested after an uninterrupted night's sleep. He gaped dazedly down at the alarm clock in his hands for a few moments, before dragging himself off to a shower, dressing, and finally padding out to the kitchen in bare feet. The clock above the stove ticked in his ear as he put together a bowl of cereal, and a golden beam of sunlight played across the black and white checkered floor.

Just another morning. The morning of the last day before the Tokyo-Yokohama area tournament, true, but did it look any different? He'd used the same brand of soap yesterday morning, had eaten the same kind of cereal. The tick of the clock sounded just the same.

If he'd never even thought about this before, why did it seem to bother him so much now?

He had an insane urge to call for Wizard, just to see if he'd answer...

But this urge, he realized, bothered him the most of all, and he swiftly switched on the radio to see if he could catch any news before he had a chance to think any more about it. His wish was granted:

"-the spokesman also emphasized that the _vast _majority of calls to the authorities have been from confused, panicking parents; none of the Deuses worldwide seem to have been anticipating this, either, but he stated that none of them have yet been reported as experiencing any adverse effects. He explained that this phenomenon is no reason for concern, but is in fact part of the latest leap forward in Angelic Layer technology - the 'MYSTIC project', unveiled just in time for the much-anticipated Tokyo-Yokohama tournament. He advised Deuses to call 555-5555 for more information-"

Sometime during this Oujiro's spoon had slipped through his fingers back into the bowl, splattering cornflakes over a wide radius, but he paid it no mind. He didn't even bother to switch off the radio as he tore back to his room and pounced on his cell phone.

An answering machine featuring a harried-sounding Ogata greeted him and told him to call 555-5555 for information on MYSTIC; he tugged on his hair hard in impatience. Finally Ogata reached the end of his spiel and the answering machine picked up, and Oujiro took a deep breath before saying in a tightly controlled voice: "Ichiro. You're mad, aren't you. You _realize _they're going to arrest you, don't you? If I don't kill you first-"

"_Otouto_!" Ichiro exclaimed cheerfully, eliciting a pained yelp. "You have no idea how wonderful it is to hear a friendly voice!"

"Ichiro..." Oujiro massaged his temple with his spare hand as he sank onto his bed. "Please don't make me start shouting. I'm trying very hard not to right now. If I started, I don't think I'd be able to stop."

Ichiro scoffed. "Hey, hey - before you get all huffy with me, I swear - _I didn't do it_." Oujiro gave a derisive snort; Ichiro chose to ignore this, and moaned melodramatically. "And yet I have to pay for it! Ogata and I have been hiding out here for hours - the phone keeps ringing - nothing to eat but tuna salad -"

"Shut _up_." Oujiro smoothed his abused hair out with a trembling hand before he trusted himself to speak again. "Look, you - what do you mean, you didn't do it? I suppose Ogata-san pushed the wrong button by mistake?"

"Silly boy," Ichiro said severely. "You know I couldn't have done something like this even if I'd wanted to. The MYSTIC package involves implanting new hardware in the Angels before the software can even be installed, and besides from a few practice models of mine, you eight Deuses in the project are the only ones who've ever had that done."

Oujiro's fidgeting hand suddenly stilled, fluttering to his lap. "So... you mean you have no idea how this happened, then?" he asked, praying that he didn't.

"How dare you underestimate my vast intellect!" Ichiro bellowed, and then laughed strangely. "Actually - though I would've come to this conclusion by now anyway, you understand - several of the other MYSTIC-project Deuses have already called me. The Angels did it, you see."

Oujiro was silent for a very long time. He flopped onto his back on the bed, and eventually he let all his air out in a long sigh. Ichiro said his name, several times with growing concern, but he ignored him. After a little while longer, he said: "Ichiro? Can I skip school today...? Only robots are taking over the earth, which most people would say is a sign of the Apocalypse, and so I've just realized that there wouldn't be much point in trying to get into Tokyo U, would there?"

There had been an underlying anger to his dreamy tone that someone as close as his brother could have easily interpreted as a demand for an explanation _this instance,_ if he had chosen to. Ichiro, however, merely scoffed again. "Oh, pull yourself together. Why so shocked, anyway? Why hasn't Wizard told you?"

Oujiro grimaced guiltily. Why was it that he kept having to explain this to everyone, anyway? It wasn't like it he'd even started it... _he hadn't asked for this_... "We're sorting some things out," he said vaguely. "He's not what I expected."

"Well, you'd better get used to him fast," Ichiro said, a tiny bit of genuine alarm ringing in his voice for the first time. "If you can't work with him, you're going to get eaten alive tomorrow."

Oujiro blanched suddenly. "You mean-" He interrupted himself with a laugh. "Well, I guess it's not an unfair advantage, now..." A thought stuck him, and he sat up again. "Wait - _can _you turn it off? If you, ah, needed to? You can still shut the whole program down, right?"

There was a moment of awkward silence. "Er... no," Ichiro admitted. Over Oujiro's moan, he explained: "My computers show seven Deuses currently running MYSTIC software - we turned Alice's off last night, boy, was Arisu mad this morning... They must have made a copy. Where they're keeping it, or what they've done to it to make it run without the additional hardware... only _they _know, I suppose."

Oujiro shivered. "Oh, wonderful. This is _crazy_... I mean, who's to say that it's going to stop here? What if they get into the internet - they could control the whole world from there; they really, actually could... Or maybe Arisu was right all along - maybe _we'll_ become the dolls -"

Listening, Ichiro shook his head. "Oujiro - otouto - did you forget what you told us, the other night? Why the sudden change of heart? You know as well as I do - better, I'm sure - that there's no possible reason for these Angels to crave world domination or something silly like that. They want to be closer to us - they care only for us - beyond that, it stops where you want it to. Now, if an Angel fell into the hands of a corrupt individual with corrupt desires, it could become a powerful tool - maybe. Maybe not. Who knows how wise they might become? Perhaps an Angel will see how potentially harmful such foul behavior could be to its Deuses in the long run, and refuse to take part in it - prevent it, even, maybe..." He chuckled to himself. "Kind of gives their name a whole new meaning, doesn't it?"

Oujiro didn't know quite what to say to that, and the conversation ended soon after on a subdued note. As he finished getting ready for school, however, a thought niggled at the back of his mind... _Yes, but what if you've made your Angel angry?_

**TBC**


	9. Shira Hime

**AN: **(spirally eyes) Ah, technicalities. I _knew_, I _knew _this was going to be a problem once I finally got to the fight chapters - perhaps that's why I put them off 'til the end? Eh heh heh. FYI, this is the second-to-last chapter. Things are starting to wrap up... (cowers) Back to the subject! Technicalities! Eh heh... Well, I don't know if I've explained this before, but the problem is that the only version of this story I'm familiar with is the manga one. I own all the mangas, but I don't own the anime and I've only seen it once, a like a year ago T.T So if anything about the fights seems off in any way and you've only seen the anime, chances are that it comes from the manga version (they're too different; why must Clamp do this to me?). I vaguely remember something about the Deuses having little anime-cliché sayings that they'd shout before entering their Angels into the layer, but I couldn't remember any of them verbatim to save my soul... Oh well - enough of my pointless whinging and dithering! Review thankies:

Mirage10050: Aw, obviously you rock - how could you not, when you have such great taste in literature? (evil grin) Thankies for the review :)

Vaguely Downwards: (grin) Oh-my-god's just abound, don't they? A slumber party inside Misaki's head, I like that - oh, the possibilities for spin-off one-shots are endless, I'm not sure if I'm good enough at crack humor to do them justice... But in any case, I love how clever you are, because we find out exactly what Wizard's been telling the other angels in the very next chapter, it'll be so much fun I'm sure... Poor, poor Misaki - (cackle) Also, words like awesomeness and scariness are highly appreciated; I've had a great deal of fun unwinding that aspect of the plot... wow, me, having this much fun with more than just getting the main characters into each other's trousers, how novel... (nods solemnly) And of course you're quite right; you simply can't _have_ real literature without a bit of good pencil-throwing ;)

Satsukiyami: Well, I'm afraid I'll have to drag your worrying out for one more chapter - at least! Obviously I don't want to spoil the end or anything... (grin)

* * *

**Chapter Eight: **Shirahime

* * *

Though it was now after sunset, the room was illuminated by a single desk lamp. The faint glow from the layer helped to alleviate the gloom a bit as well, of course.

"Angel is detected in the layer. Please locate power switch beneath rim on your right," suggested a cool, feminine voice. There was a polite pause, and then: "Angel is detected in the layer. Please locate power switch beneath rim on your right."

_Tonk_. Though she would've been well within her rights, the speaker's tone carried no hint of disgruntlement when she said: "Angel is detected in the layer. Please locate power switch beneath rim on your right."

Wizard, Oujiro reflected, looked almost surreal, lit from below as he was. The doll stood obediently just where he'd set him, eyes closed, cold and unbreathing, and yet he had the distinct impression that there was some sort of strange power there, hidden just out of sight. He lobbed another pencil at the control box across the layer as the impassive female voice reiterated her message once again, and missed.

Tonight, after weeks of waiting and frenzied preparation, was the final night before the Tokyo-Yokohama tournament. What's more, it was sure to be one of the most memorable events of Angelic Layer history, as player interaction was taken to a whole new level. He should be excited beyond all hope of sleeping, really. He should _also _be practicing like a madman.

"Angel is detected-" _thunk! _"-in the layer..."

* * *

Somehow, Oujiro mused, as he meandered his way thru the labyrinth of corridors and human bodies to the designated waiting area for competing Deuses - somehow, he seemed to have slipped into a state of wonderfully comfortable but terribly deceptive denial, these past few days. Somehow, even though he had surely been thinking about it, the tournament seemed to have snuck up on him.

Wizard was a dead weight in his bag - and he wished it would drag him so far down that he disappeared, as he had already been accosted by several packs of reporters rabid for 'insider information' on the latest innovation in Angelic Layer technology. He could not recall another occasion when attention had been _less_ welcome, and so of course he was getting more than he ever had before. Conversations changed pitch as he passed, and curious sideways glances were now thrown his way by even the most rigidly mature members of the crowd; he kept his head down, and felt that he could not reach the door to the waiting room soon enough.

The sight that greeted him on the other side, however, didn't do much to sooth his nerves. "The gang's all here," he observed wryly, and indeed they were; Hatoko, Ringo, Arisu, and Madoka sat in one row of chairs, and in the facing row on the other side of the small room sat Kaede and Sai. "Haven't some of you come rather far for a humble inter-city tournament?" he inquired as he took a seat next to Sai; she graced him with an ironic eyebrow. "And where is Misaki-chan?"

"She's already been called out - the opening match," Kaede offered. "Did you get held up?"

"Yes," he said darkly. "There are more reporters here than there were at the nationals."

This statement seemed to have a rather sobering effect; no one else made a stab at conversation, each retreating into their own thoughts - or perhaps, Oujiro thought with a gut-wrenching combination of bitterness and worry, their own more private conversations...

It _would_ be, he reflected dismally, only as he sat here surrounded by all the other best Deuses of Japan, perhaps mere minutes from being called to the layer, that the full seriousness of his situation truly impressed itself upon him. He had already felt for himself, after all, the difference that the MYSTIC package made in a battle, and that had been before the AI issue had progressed very far too. He supposed he might still have some form of connection to his Angel's physical body, even if the mind wanted nothing to do with him, but...

He couldn't quite seem to look away from Suzuka, cradled innocently in Hatoko's arms across the aisle. There was simply nothing for it; even if they paired him with a noob, it wouldn't matter, he was going to be slaughtered in the first match. He wondered what would happen if he snuck off under the pretense of locating the gent's and never came back.

But no, he thought, feeling a little panicky and ill as Arisu was called out; no, he couldn't run away, everyone would notice, and even if he didn't play in this tournament, he'd have to play eventually... he couldn't run forever... _But what was the point of playing at all, when he already knew the outcome?_

He immediately felt a shock of guilt; that sounded horrible... After all, before this he had pretty much assumed that he would always win, except perhaps against the handful of other Deuses in this room; wasn't that the same thing? Did winning really make that much of a difference to him?

"Having some doubts?"

His head jerked up in surprise, but it was only Hatoko, smiling softly at him across the walkway. Funny, he thought with a touch of hysteria; he'd almost forgotten there was anyone else here...

"Me, doubts?" he murmured.

She chuckled at him. "You and Wizard still aren't talking, are you?" Sai gazed at him with interest; he squirmed in discomfort, and only shrugged. Hatoko gave a knowing smile.

"You shouldn't let it worry you. I know you'll win," she said, with such confidence that it left him wide-eyed. "From what Suzuka tells me, he cares a lot about you, even if he's angry with you right now. He wouldn't let you down when it matters this much. Have some faith in him - and have some faith in Angelic Layer. After all, this game is all about making miracles happen, isn't it?"

From Sai's derisive snort, Oujiro gathered that she thought it was about something slightly different, but he gaped at Hatoko, who to his bemusement pointed up at the ceiling. "That's you, isn't it?" she added sweetly. He followed her finger to the speaker in the corner, and realized with a nervous jolt that the announcer had just said something which had gone right over his head.

When Sai stood up next to him, however, he thought he got a basic gist of it.

He stared up at her, but could only meet her cool gaze for a moment before he had to look away under the excuse of locating his bag's shoulder strap. His fingers fumbled to get a decent grip on it; his heart seemed to have lodged itself in his throat, and his mind was spilling out a petrified mantra: _no, I'm not ready for this, not **her**, I'm sure she just said something really helpful and wonderful but I need time to think about it, more time, oh, Kami-_

_Oh, suck it up already!_

The shoulder strap slipped through his fingers once more, his mouth fell for a second time, and Sai was already walking out the door, but somehow he couldn't be bothered to care. _'Wizard?-!'_

Innocent silence greeted him. As he waited for his heartbeat to slow back down to a reasonable rate, he sat back and stared unblinkingly into the middle distance, trying to order his thoughts. It _had _to have been him, it had been far too vivid to have been his imagination...

To his mild surprise, a sly little smile stole over his face. Suck it up, eh? When you put it like _that_, he supposed his behavior actually had been rather unbecoming. In fact, the more that he thought about it, the more he wondered what he'd been so worried about in the first place - because obviously he had someone watching over him...

"Are you going?" Ringo asked, sounding a bit concerned. Oujiro didn't quite trust himself to speak just then, but he gave her a reassuring grin as he stood.

Somehow he found his way to the proper room, jostling against the crowd to keep Sai's back in sight since he hadn't heard the announcement. The mob of watchers in the arena, half of whom were already screaming for Sai, grew even louder as he stepped out into the inner circle, and he had to shield his eyes against the sudden light.

This, he told himself, was it - the moment he'd been waiting for, agonizing over. A thrill ran up his spine, and because he had been expecting it this time, he recognized that the emotion was not entirely his own; his fingers worried at his bag's zipper as he strode forward and took his seat, but his slight smile persisted.

As he withdrew Wizard from his bag he kept careful control of his expression, partly because he knew that there would be cameras on him right now - not to mention a thousand pairs of eyes in this room alone - but also because he didn't know what he was feeling just now anyway. All he knew for certain was that hearing Wizard's voice for the first time in several days had been an immense relief...

The chairs rose up to bring the two Deuses level with the playing field, and Sai granted him a polite smile as she slipped her headset on. He returned the gesture in kind, as the layer for this match revealed itself: A sparkling tundra that half-blinded him all over again. Ah, a picturesque snowscape for _Shirahime_ - did they really expect him to believe that this had been randomly selected? Or perhaps it was just fate mocking him as per usual... Before he had a chance to angst over this properly, however, Sai entered her Angel into the layer, and he hurried to follow suit; the noise from the crowd reached a whole new level of deafening.

He was impressed before Wizard even touched the ground; he had been right in thinking that there would still be some amount of a link between them. It was even more powerful than when he'd last tested it against Ichiro, he felt - but once again he had no time to fully take this in, because Shirahime was already on the offensive. She got in only one hit before his shield came up and blasted her away, and he'd been able to block it partially, but even so it had lowered his points by a ridiculous amount; Oujiro grimaced, and noted with no small amount of irritation that Sai was smiling.

'I _know_ you're there, Wizard. Now would be a good time...'

The distressing thing was that Shirahime was heavy; her heavyweight status had practically become famous when Hikaru had defeated her by taking advantage of it. Whereas Wizard was lighter - he was practically as small as Hikaru - and while that meant that he couldn't hit as hard, in the hands of a Deus as experienced as Oujiro his speed-focused build should've meant that he would at least be _able_ to hit her. As long as he kept his shield up he was safe - Shirahime was still too slow to pass through it as Hikaru had - but when he tried to attack her, she was the one who landed a blow every time. Her coordination had increased exponentially since the last time he'd seen her play... Before long he was trapped in a cycle of fighting wholly on the defensive and hiding behind his shield whenever the other Angel began to really pick up speed, and the commentator was wondering what had happened to 'his usual flare'...

'You're really not going to help me, are you...?' He scowled in fierce concentration and frustration as Shirahime chased him all around the layer, picking off handfuls of points left and right. '_Fine_, then! I could always win without you before - if you care this little, I'm probably better off without your help anyway-'

It happened literally in the blink of an eye. With one well-placed kick to the shin, Shirahime sent Wizard sprawling spread-eagle on his back - and then she disappeared. For a moment Oujiro was left staring dumbly at the empty space she'd occupied an instant before, horror-struck and confused... then there was a moment of frantic motion, in which Oujiro willed Wizard to roll away with all his might, but that apparently wasn't enough, as Shirahime dropped feet-first onto his outstretched arm.

There was an audible _crack_, and then Shirahime jumped back. A soft murmur wafted through the crowd... snowballing gradually into a roar as Wizard picked himself up. Sai was a pinnacle of composure.

Oujiro stared at the broken arm, and felt as thoroughly ill as if it had been on a human body. There was no hope for it now, he knew; there was perhaps a centimeter left on his health point bar, and there was no way he would be able to fight with one arm in any case. Shirahime was still, eternally patience, waiting...

_You **idiot**! _a voice fairly shrieked._ How could you let her **do **that to me? It'll take **hours** to fix - **idiot**!_

The sound of the crowd faded into the background, which was terribly corny, but Oujiro really didn't mind. For the second time in less than a week, he found himself dangerously close to crying.

'A little late, aren't you?'

Wizard just scoffed. _You're worthless without me, you know._

'I suppose I am, aren't I?' Oujiro thought with only a small touch of regret. 'It's a good thing you care so much, isn't it?'

"Are you too scared to move?" Sai called, though she didn't sound too terribly cruel - and then there was a moment of clarity like a spiritual epiphany, as he finally experienced the full capabilities of MYSTIC for the first time.

"Are you?" Oujiro countered pleasantly. "Ladies first..."

He was wickedly delighted to see a small frown crease Sai's brow, as Shirahime lunged forward without preamble.

"_Maybe we'll eventually share this body, as two halves of the same soul..." _While they were on the layer, at least, Wizard's prediction certainly held true. It was all ridiculously easy, really. _Wait_, Wizard whispered in his ear. _Wait... okay!_

The Angel never had to move a muscle. He waited until she was inches away before throwing up his shield, which blasted Shirahime to the very edge of the layer - where the slippery ice-encrusted snow carried her the rest of the way out. The arena, predictably, blew itself to kingdom come; even Sai beamed at him.

* * *

Oujiro fled the stadium as soon as he could. He sought out the nearest secluded area he could find and claimed it as his, sitting with his back against the wall and extracting a basic repair kit from his bag.

'Hours indeed; I hope we'll be ready for the next match,' he commented, faintly amused.

Wizard gave no reply for so long that Oujiro was half afraid that, crisis averted, he had gone back to giving him the silent treatment. Finally, however, he grumbled: _This doesn't make things right, you know._

Oujiro smiled sadly. 'I know. I _do_ love you, though.'

_Not as much as her._

Oujiro indulged in a moment of exhaustion and allowed his eyes to flutter shut, as he found himself wishing the next match wouldn't come all over again. 'No, I suppose not...'

**TBC**


	10. Winner

**AN:** (gasp) Could it be? At long last, the final chapter... (sniffle) Aw, I'll be sad to see it go. Especially because now I'm stuck working on my stupid NaNoWriMo novel, aargh... Well, I hope everyone enjoys, in any case. It sounded really good when I wrote it, anyway, nervous grin... I thought about writing a lemon, but in the end I just couldn't do it, heh. It wasn't that I was too embarrassed (couldn't have been, since a couple days later I wrote about three or four pages of really lovely erotica for my Dragon Knights fic...); it just didn't feel right... Maybe this couple just seems more cute than sexual, at least in this fic? (cowers) Well, it was only rated T anyway... Next fic, really! (grin) And on a completely different note, if anyone catches the Angel Sanctuary ref in this chapter, they get a whole _box_ of cookies.

Satsukiyami: (smirk) Yes, I _do_ have rather too much fun torturing Wizard... this first scene, for instance... Hopefully, however, you'll enjoy this chapter ;)

Gunieapiglover: Squee, it's you! Aw, I've missed you XD And, gah, I'm so so sorry, I forgot; I was going to make you/get you to beta this for me, wasn't I? (sweatdrop) And I could've used it, too, so many typos... But in any case, I'm glad you like it! Hey, if you're hunting for more Oujiro/Wizard's, you should look at my C2 (think I mentioned it before, but what the heck), I think it has... two others, heh...

Vaguely Downwards: (grin) Yes, the general unhuggable-ness of fictional character _is_ deeply frustrating, isn't it? If only... (snigger, smirk)... Glad you like :)

* * *

**Chapter Nine: **Winner

* * *

The night after the first day of the tournament, Wizard came to Oujiro again in his dreams, shimmering at the edge of his vision as he faded into sight. The Angel wrapped his arms around Oujiro's waist and laid his head on his chest, and Oujiro let him because his usual playful spark was painfully absent.

"I love you," Wizard murmured. "I mean it."

Oujiro buried his face in blue hair, noting how Wizard's body was exactly the right height for this, and breathed in fresh rain and ocean spray. "I know."

Wizard pulled back, and smiled. "I _really_ mean it. It was selfish and childish of me, to not talk to you. I almost let you lose the match! Even if you can't love me back, I still can't hate you, so I'll do my best from now on."

Oujiro couldn't help it; if he hadn't done _something_, his heart would've broken on the spot. He kissed Wizard fiercely, and then pulled him close; the shorter boy was limp and heavy in his arms. "I still love Misaki," he told him. "But I wish..."

But he never said what he wished, and so they simply stayed as they were until Oujiro woke up at dawn.

* * *

That Sunday the tournament building, though still occupied by plenty of spectators, was noticeably less overcrowded as the Deuses had been considerably thinned out. Yesterday the only other particularly impressive Deus Oujiro had fought aside from Sai had been Madoka, but he hoped idly that he would see more of the old hands today since the ratio had surely been lowered.

_I don't know - don't you think it'd be easier to fight a **noob**?_

Though he knew he probably really deserved to be mocked for his panic attack for the rest of his life, Oujiro rolled his eyes dramatically - because the Deuses had been breaking out in random fits of seemingly meaningless shouting and the like all over the building during the whole tournament, even the spectators didn't bother to stare. 'Why, so you can sleep while I beat them?'

He was saved from any potential scathing reply, however, as a familiar voice called his name. He glanced over his shoulder, and smiled serenely.

"Still in the running?" he teased gently.

Misaki beamed at him as she caught up. "Yes! I just won against Hatoko a few minutes ago, were you there?"

"Of course. Congratulations, it was amazing."

She blushed prettily. "Thank you. Ano, if you don't have another fight coming up, that is - could I talk to you in private for a few minutes?"

He arched an eyebrow. "Okay..." Wizard made no comment.

They found an empty waiting room on their second try, and Oujiro found himself feeling rather awkward as Misaki locked the door behind them. She turned to him before he had time to give it much thought, however, and smiled cheerily. "I saw your first fight yesterday, against Jounouchi-san. You and Wizard made up, didn't you?"

"Yes," he said, and then, because it was Misaki, added guiltily: "well, mostly. We're speaking again." Even if it was all such a joke...

She nodded. "I know. I mean, Hikaru told me that much." She grinned awkwardly. "Hikaru and Wizard talked for a long time last night, actually."

Something icy came to rest at the bottom of Oujiro's stomach as he stared at her. "Oh, really?"

"Um..." Misaki broke eye contact, becoming preoccupied with her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. "Um..." She suddenly heaved a huge sigh, and smiled at him again. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about - that is - he's in love with you, isn't he?"

Oujiro choked on air. "H-He told her that?" he managed. "He _told_ - He told _her-_" Misaki waved her hands frantically, blushing.

"No, it's okay! S-She also said that he told her... that you said you'd stay with me..."

He grinned in weak-kneed relief. "Of course I did. I will. Wizard is very important to me, but not _that_ important-"

Misaki shook her head earnestly. "No, don't say that!" she exclaimed. "I know how much Angelic Layer means to you - it means just as much to me - I don't want to ever come between you and playing-"

Oujiro laughed. "But it's okay! He understands that it just wouldn't work out; we're alright now. We beat Sai-san, didn't we?"

She frowned at him. "Don't... don't you think he's sad, though? He must be... so disappointed... I don't think anyone could do their best when they feel that way, do you?" Oujiro grimaced, hating with a passion her ability, bordering on psychic powers, to see to the heart of the matter. Misaki just smiled. "You might be playing all right now, but I think you could do so much better! If you'd like to try - getting closer to him, then I'll definitely support you! I'm going to be doing _my_ best to win this tournament, after all."

Oujiro could only gawk; she gave him no time to formulate a reply, but opened the door again and gave him a little wave as she walked out. "Well, I've got to go. I'm fighting Blanche again, wish me luck!"

"I-!" But she was gone, a blur of red hair a shoulder height disappearing into the crowd. He slumped against the wall, feeling drained.

'You told _Hikaru_,' he stated.

_Yes,_ Wizard agreed. _I didn't really mean to, but she... she's very kind._

_Like her Deus,_ Oujiro thought bitterly, and dragged a hand harshly through his hair. 'You shouldn't have told her,' he bit out. 'Not _her_. Misaki - she _would_ do this - and she can be so stubborn - _damn_ it...'

Wizard gave only a subdued apology, but Oujiro could read his feelings clearly: shaken, guilty, and oh-so-miserable... Oujiro pinched the bridge of his nose as the announcer called him to Stadium 1 to battle Arisu Fujisaki, and found it very hard to feel any sympathy for him.

* * *

The match against Arisu was quick, clean, and easy, and afterward she gave Oujiro a glare that put him in mind of nothing so much as a furious kitten. "I suppose you're going to tell me that I need to get _closer_ to my Angel?" she asked resentfully. "Don't bother, Misaki already has."

She was obviously quite riled up and ready to fight, so it must have surprised her greatly when Oujiro only gave her a vague smile. "Got to you too, did she?" He sighed, shrugged. "Yes... I suppose it probably _would_ be a good idea..." Arisu seemed fit to explode as he meandered off, but fortunately she could find no words strong enough to express her ire.

He had now defeated Sai and both the Fujisaki sisters; Misaki had defeated Hatoko and Kaede, and Ringo had been knocked out of the tournament the pervious day by Hatoko. He fought one promising-looking newcomer who controlled an Angel with three wings, but he did not find any of the others particularly note-worthy, and he was rather preoccupied with thoughts of the final match in any case. At this point, he _knew _it would be himself verses Misaki; the tournament sponsors probably wouldn't allow them to be paired up before then, for effect. Time slipped irrevocably into the past in a headlong reckless rush towards that point; before he knew it, it was lunchtime - he ate, but what he couldn't remember afterwards, and he could only hope he hadn't embarrassed himself -; before he knew it, he had just won his last battle before the final match... It had been against some girl he'd heard of before but never yet fought, who looked rather faint as he politely shook her hand afterwards, and then he turned around and Misaki was there.

"That was great!" she congratulated. "This tournament has been a lot of fun, hasn't it?"

He smiled wanly at her. "I'll never forget it."

"Do you need a break?" she asked as a matter of decorum, and he shook his head; there was no way he would be able to relax now... She beamed at him, and they took their seats on opposite sides of the layer to feverish applause.

"This is it!" the commentator howled. "The grand finale, the Prince and Princess of the layer, the royal couple-" Oujiro shot him a dirty look as the chairs rose up.

"Have you taken my advice yet?" Misaki called out as the layer revealed itself; the crowd 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed over the onsen made up of small but treacherously deep-looking, steaming pools, but Oujiro was in no mood to admire it.

"I'm not going to do that," he said firmly, entering Wizard into the layer as the commentator announced the start of the fight. Misaki shook her head, and sent Hikaru lunging at him immediately.

_I'm so sorry, Oujiro-_

Oujiro gritted his teeth. 'Just concentrate on the fight.'

Hikaru landed an especially costly blow, and Misaki flashed an unusual, grim smile. "You have to! Don't you see? You can't win as long as he's miserable - and you're miserable-"

"I'm not miserable!" he said, startled.

"You mean you're happy even though you're hurting him?" Misaki challenged.

Oujiro flushed. "Well, better that than - hurt you," he insisted, even though it made him feel sick to his stomach - and Hikaru kicked Wizard half-way across the layer.

"You don't really feel that way," Misaki said gently, so softly that he almost couldn't hear her over the noise of the crowd. "And if you really did, I wouldn't want you anyway. I really like you, Oujiro-kun - but Wizard _needs_ you, and you need him."

He stared at her. She wasn't crying, he noted, but in his mind Wizard was; how strange... He smiled faintly. 'What do you think?' he whispered. 'We've only got a few points left...'

He felt Wizard grin at him. _But Angelic Layer is all about making miracles happen, isn't it?_

The game lasted perhaps thirty more seconds, but the Angels moved so fast that only the two Deuses could really tell what was happening. Oujiro hung on tenterhooks, glancing at the point counters whenever he could; he was doing considerable damage for the first time in the game, and she was barely touching him - even so, that hit that had sent him across the layer had been horrible, and he wasn't sure how much longer they could keep this pace up...

Hikaru had managed to back them right up to the edge of one of the pools. Wizard feinted to the right and then tried to dodge around her left, but the earth next to the pool was slippery and muddy, and his foot stuck - Hikaru grabbed his arm and slammed him into the pool so hard that he sank to the very bottom and didn't come up again.

The roar of the crowd was so loud that Oujiro felt it as much as heard it; he would probably be partially deaf for days. The layer reverted to normal as the chairs brought them back down to earth, and Oujiro leapt to his feet as soon as they touched the ground and went to retrieve his Angel. He was please to see that there was no serious damage, and he cradled the doll fondly in his arms as he made his way over to Misaki.

"You were wonderful," he said sincerely. "Congratulations-"

She giggled. "Oh, don't be silly. _You're_ the one that won."

* * *

When Oujiro made it home that evening, he did remember to take off his shoes and put on slippers at the door, but he didn't even think about making dinner, and he couldn't be bothered to so much as remove the aforementioned slippers before falling into bed. He lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling for a long time, until gradually it faded to black.

"I'm sorry I lost the match," Wizard murmured.

Oujiro smiled. "_We_ lost the match," he corrected. "And you did your best. It was my fault."

"Was not-"

"Yes it was-"

"It was _my-_"

Oujiro shut him up then with a kiss. He dragged Wizard down to the ground with him by the shoulders, and somehow now the boy was laying on his back with Oujiro kneeling over him. Wizard turned his head to the side in curiosity, hair fanning out adorably around his face, and his lips parted slightly.

"Misaki dumped me because of you," Oujiro informed him. "In front of an audience of thousands of Angelic Layer fans. I can only hope that none of them guessed _exactly_ what she was talking about..." Wizard's face broke into a smile as he concluded: "So I guess this means I'm stuck with you."

He then kissed the Angel so passionately that he moaned and hung on to his neck for dear life, and Oujiro pondered that time-honored question of just how much two people could accomplish together before sunrise.

**The End!**


End file.
